It’s Official, Venezuela Is Only 23rd Worst Hyperinflation – So Far

Good news here for those who would see Bolivarian socialism as anything other than a total disaster – Venezuela’s inflation is only the 23rd worst hyperinflation so far. So far in that of course it can still get worse but also in that you just wait and see until Jezza gets elected.

So, you know, Huzzah and all that:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]58 Episodes of Hyperinflation (Venezuela is #23)[/perfectpullquote]

In more detail:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]At present, Venezuela is the only country experiencing a hyperinflation.[/perfectpullquote]

Even Zimbabwe’s doing better:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Now, let’s turn to the world’s only current hyperinflation: Venezuela. It ranks as the 23rd most severe. Today, the annual rate of inflation is 120,810%/yr. While this rate is modest by hyperinflation standards, the duration of Venezuela’s hyperinflation episode, as of today, is long: 27 months. Only four episodes of hyperinflation have been more long-lived. So, how do we accurately measure hyperinflations? Well, let’s take a look at Venezuela’s case. There is only one reliable way to measure. The most important price in an economy is the exchange rate between the local currency—in this case, the bolivar—and the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. dollar. As long as there is an active black market (read: free market) for currency and the data are available, changes in the black-market exchange rate can be reliably transformed into accurate measurements of countrywide inflation rates. The economic principle of purchasing power parity (PPP) allows for this transformation. And, the application of PPP to measure elevated inflation rates is rather simple. [/perfectpullquote]

And the complete chart:

Amazingly, there doesn’t seem to be an episode there that’s not either to do with either war or idiot socialism. Which does give us an interesting lesson really. Socialism, as bad for the economy as a shooting war.