Tom Freeman, blogging at Freemania, has a look at Zimbabwe’s desperate inflation in his post “Mugabeconomics”.

Last Wednesday, Zimbabwe issued a new $200,000 note. You could buy a kilo of sugar with it.

According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, monthly inflation was 37.8% in February, 50.5% in March and 100.7% in April – an annual equivalent of nearly 619,000%. After that, they inexplicably stopped publishing the figures.

On the risible assumptions that these official numbers are accurate and that inflation hasn’t risen further since April, the new note should today be able to buy 887 grams of sugar. This time next week, 750 g. The week after, 635 g.