Billion dollar dinner

The effects of Robert Mugabe's economic policies in Zimbabwe are plain to see from this posting at the Freakonomics blog. They write,

Freakonomics reader Justin Dombrow sent in this receipt from a dinner his South African friend had at the Victoria Falls Hotel in Zimbabwe.

But Dombrow’s friend doesn’t have to be rich to pay one and a quarter billion Zimbabwe dollars (ZWD) for two beers, a mineral water, and one dinner.

Thanks to inflation, it comes out to just $2.70 in U.S. dollars (according to OANDA.com).