U.s. Inflation To Approach Zimbabwe Level

[Guest มร หล&#3]

I'll ask Marc about all this when I see him. Just had an email from the old chap, going to pop in when he's in this neck of the woods.

[lowrentyieldmakessense(honest!)]

I'll ask Marc about all this when I see him. Just had an email from the old chap, going to pop in when he's in this neck of the woods.

ask him to laugh louder whenever he is being interviewed by the green shoots and state interventionist idiots

[lowrentyieldmakessense(honest!)]

A loss in the value of the pound through high inflation is, imo, the only way there will be nohpc.

I think that economic history geeks (he has a massive collection of books on economic history & theory - and actually reads them) like Faber think it'll simply be the same this time around.

and the history ones being the most important

[Guest มร หล&#3]

ask him to laugh louder whenever he is being interviewed by the green shoots and state interventionist idiots

Will do.

[Chicken]

AHA!!!!! I always suspected that you knew, or are related to, him Parry!

[Injin]

I doubt there's a cure for whatever Mr Faber has... to suggest that the US will reach Zimbabwe levels of inflation is about the silliest thing I have heard all year. Mr Faber must have been off ill the day they were giving out the brains at school... is really suggesting that the US will 2,000,000 (or whatever it is) annual rate of inflation.

Sensible people seem still to be unsettled as to whether there will be any infationary pressure at all in the US... personally I think there will be as they will be too slow bringing the shutters down.... but Zimbabwe style, I doubt that would ahppen if you suddenly made Mugabe president of the US.

[Guest มร หล&#3]

AHA!!!!! I always suspected that you knew, or are related to, him Parry!

Share an interest in traditional Thai architecture that's all.

Expat community. Doesn't matter who you are, we are all equal over here.

[lowrentyieldmakessense(honest!)]

Share an interest in traditional Thai architecture that's all.

Expat community. Doesn't matter who you are, we are all equal over here.

naturists

[Guest มร หล&#3]

naturists

Some of us are here for other things, like family, homes, gardens, life in general.

bkkandrew will explain.

[lowrentyieldmakessense(honest!)]

Some of us are here for other things, like family, homes, gardens, life in general.

bkkandrew will explain.

it was a joke

dont take offense

[Guest มร หล&#3]

it was a joke

dont take offense

Sorry Bruv, I didn't really.

It is nice living out here in the countryside. A far cry from what I'm about to be dragged back into next week.

[Della]

I would consider an inflation rate of 50% plus, to be in hyper territory.

You can't just redefine hyperinflation to just any old number, 50% annual inflation is high inflation, it is actually pretty plausible I suppose, but it is not hyperinflation, hyperinflation is inflation to the extreme.

I could say you are going to die tomorrow, and by die I mean stub your toe, but by doing that I redefine "die" to such an extent that my use of it becomes arbitrary and meaningless.

Edited May 29, 2009 by Della

[MarkG]

You can't just redefine hyperinflation to just any old number, 50% annual inflation is high inflation, it is actually pretty plausible I suppose, but it is not hyperinflation, hyperinflation is inflation to the extreme.

Phew: I'm glad to hear that a 50% rise in prices every year isn't 'extreme'.

[grumpy-old-man-returns]

Phew: I'm glad to hear that a 50% rise in prices every year isn't 'extreme'.

this is the problem, everyone thinks you need 1000% inflation to equate to hyper-inflation, when in reality 50% every year would suffice imo.

Hyper-inflation has a min & max.

ps - how's MarkG btw ?

I wish I was in Canada mate.

[Della]

Phew: I'm glad to hear that a 50% rise in prices every year isn't 'extreme'.

50% is pretty high inflation, but not extreme. If I went and stood on a local hill I would be high, if I went in an airliner I would be very high, if I rode in a spaceship to the moon I would be extremely high relative to earth, so high that the concept of "high" would be stretched to breaking point. That's what hyperinflation is, like riding a rocket to the moon.

EDIT:

The inflation rate in Zimbabwe which the OP talks about is 516 quintillion percent

Edited May 29, 2009 by Della

[grumpy-old-man-returns]

"In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or "out of control", a condition in which prices increase rapidly as a currency loses its value.[1] Definitions used by the media vary from a cumulative inflation rate over three years approaching 100% to "inflation exceeding 50% a month." [2] In informal usage the term is often applied to much lower rates. As a rule of thumb, normal inflation is reported per year, but hyperinflation is often reported for much shorter intervals, often per month."

hyper-inflation definition from wiki

[grumpy-old-man-returns]

50% is pretty high inflation, but not extreme. If I went and stood on a local hill I would be high, if I went in an airliner I would be very high, if I rode in a spaceship to the moon I would be extremely high relative to earth, so high that the concept of "high" would be stretched to breaking point. That's what hyperinflation is, like riding a rocket to the moon.

EDIT:

The inflation rate in Zimbabwe which the OP talks about is 516 quintillion percent

quick, sing em a song Della.

[MarkG]

ps - how's MarkG btw ?

At home with a cold today. Of course this also turned out to be the day that the people at work decided to move my desk, so getting to my work machine to work from home hasn't been as easy as I expected .

I wish I was in Canada mate.

I'm glad I'm back: I was in Islington on a business trip a couple of weeks ago and thinking 'hang on, this ordinary-looking flat advertised for sale here is more expensive than the most expensive house for sale in the town where I live'... But still, the overtime and bonuses from that trip will pay off about 5% of the mortgage .

[MarkG]

50% is pretty high inflation, but not extreme.

Tell that to someone who's getting a 5% pay rise.

How many people do you think could convince their employers to give them a 50+% pay rise, even if inflation is 50% a year?

[#1 on West side]

A bit off topic... How does the prospect of hyperinflation affect the decision to (re) enter the housing market?

One could argue that now is a good time to buy a home, as the resulting mortgage will be eroded by hyperinflation. Am I missing something?

[Godley]

A bit off topic... How does the prospect of hyperinflation affect the decision to (re) enter the housing market?

One could argue that now is a good time to buy a home, as the resulting mortgage will be eroded by hyperinflation. Am I missing something?

Nope.

[IMHAL]

50% is pretty high inflation, but not extreme. If I went and stood on a local hill I would be high, if I went in an airliner I would be very high, if I rode in a spaceship to the moon I would be extremely high relative to earth, so high that the concept of "high" would be stretched to breaking point. That's what hyperinflation is, like riding a rocket to the moon.

EDIT:

The inflation rate in Zimbabwe which the OP talks about is 516 quintillion percent

I think you will find hyperinflation is not a specific number, but more of a condition, one in which it becomes impossible to regain control of the inflationary environment through action imposed by the central banks - I'd say that if we get anywhere past 10% inflation with the debt mountain that we have then we will be well into a hyeprinflationary scenario as the bankers will not be able to control the fall out from higher interest rates needed to contain inflation and the social unrest entailed. The path is then set for more printing to employ the masses digging holes and filling them - then higher inflation follows and eventually you get currency collapse and hyperinflation with a very large number.

But you need to remember it all starts with a small number and gets to a point where it cannot be contained - the turning point is what is important relative to what can be managed. The absolution number is absolutely unimportant.

[InternationalRockSuperstar]

http://www.inflation.us/

[K.O. Johnny]

A bit off topic... How does the prospect of hyperinflation affect the decision to (re) enter the housing market?

One could argue that now is a good time to buy a home, as the resulting mortgage will be eroded by hyperinflation. Am I missing something?

It doesn't. But hyperinflation will affect your decision to feed your eldest child or your youngest child with your wage packet.

[MarkG]

One could argue that now is a good time to buy a home, as the resulting mortgage will be eroded by hyperinflation.

On the other hand, your mortgage may suddenly go to a 50% interest rate as the banks try to regain the money before inflation destroys the value of your debt.

Hyperinflation (even 50% a year) would have a devastating effect on the whole economy, and most people will be more worried about feeding themselves than buying houses.