Zimbabwe, ruled by Robert Mugabe, has a lesson for the world: keep the government away from the marketplace.
Once considered a shining example of Africa’s potential, Zimbabwe is now a country in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades.Critical shortages of food, fuel, foreign currency, and, in some areas, water beset a nation where the official inflation rate tops 7,600 percent. Some analysts believe the real figure is much higher and climbing fast.
“We can’t get anything now – no bread, no petrol … nothing,” says Shephard Lunga, a truck driver from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. “If you don’t have somebody who’s outside the country supplying you with things, you’re finished.”
The country’s beleaguered economy has taken a turn for the worse since late June, when President Robert Mugabe ordered all prices cut by at least 50 percent in a bid to slow runaway inflation. The move backfired, causing manufacturers to stop producing their goods. Now grocery store shelves are barren, and people are increasingly hungry.
I wrote about Zimbabwe here, and detailed how its government has ruined the country by meddling in areas the government had no business. Clearly, this is the worst of what price controls has to offer.
Now think about the rhetoric of the liberals and the Democratic party. They want the government more involved in the market in America, which is far from free now.
Imagine what can happen here, just based on the results of Zimbabwe’s actions.
