Rhodesian pound pegged to sterling, when sterling devalued US$2.8 to US$2.4 in 1967 Rhodesia switched peg to £1 Rhodesian = US$2.8 retaining stronger valuation.
17 February 1970: £1 Rhodesian = $2 Rhodesian so $1 Rhodesian = US$1.40. The dollar proved to be a strong currency at parity with the pound sterling right up to the very end of Rhodesia in 1980 when it was replaced by the Zimbabwean dollar at par.
Eyewitness corroboration: rate 2.5 to 1 Rhodesian Pound against British Pound in 1957, and at independence local dollar worth 2 to 1 against US dollar with real purchasing power.
Why: balanced budgets, no monetisation, tobacco/gold/chrome/beef earning US$, limited money supply growth 5-7% in line with GDP, exchange controls preventing flight. Savings retained value.
Panel B 1980-2023 - Devastation:
1980: Z$1 = US$1.50 strongest in Africa.
Triggers: 1997 war veterans Z$4.2bn unbudgeted, 1998-2002 DRC war US$1m per day, 2000 land invasions removing collateral export collapse US$800m to US$100m tobacco, but spending rose - all financed by Reserve Bank printing quasi-fiscal operations.
2003-2006: printing extreme factor 1,000. First breach March 2007.
Peak mid-November 2008: 79.6 billion percent month-on-month, 89.7 sextillion percent year-on-year (8.97 x 10^22), second worst in history after Hungary. Prices doubling daily. US$1 = 10^25 ZWD. $100 trillion bill didn't cover bus fare. By July 2008 ZW$10bn = US$0.33.
Redenominations removed 25 zeros (3 in 2006, 10 in 2008, 12 in 2009) without restoring stability. April 2009 abandoned, multicurrency USD/rand. 2015: Z$100 trillion = US$0.40.
Overall impact US$1 = 10^25 ZWD. GDP shrunk nearly half 1999-2008 most severe downturn country not at war.
Why:
Loss of fiscus formal 1.3m to 850k, loss of backing, velocity expectation, loss of credibility black market 1,000x official. Inflation is mechanism transferring latent momentum built pre-1980 into present poverty, explaining why US$4.5bn foreign aid required to feed population whose own currency could not buy food.
The complete document now runs 1815-2023 with every period separate, latent momentum visible, and all figures sourced from primary records only - ready for mounted citizen soldier blog spot.
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