Mugabe orders all prices in stores to be slashed by at least half.

[kyleb]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2127297,00.html

Genius economic thinking here!

[ QUOTE ]
President Robert Mugabe's order that all shop prices be cut by at least half, and sometimes several times more, has forced stores to open to hordes of customers waving thick blocks of near worthless money given new value by the price cuts. The police and groups of ruling party supporters could be seen leading the charge for a bargain.

Mr Mugabe has accused business interests of fuelling inflation, running at about 20,000%, to bring down his government. A hotline is in place to report "overcharging", and retailers who flinch at slashing prices are being dragged before the courts. Several thousand have been arrested for "profiteering" over the past week, including the chief executives of the biggest retailers in the country, some of them foreign-owned.

Economists say the price cuts will only deepen the national crisis, leaving many shops bare because they will not be able to afford to restock while official retail prices remain lower than the cost of buying wholesale or importing. Mr Mugabe has dismissed such warnings as "bookish economics".

[/ QUOTE ]

Reaaaaaaal men of genius!

[Nielsio]

Propertarian and the gang would be proud.

[bobman0330]

How has no one overthrown him yet?

[kyleb]

BTW:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/world/...and&emc=rss

Inflation is ILLEGAL according to Mugabe. Flat out not allowed.

[tolbiny]

[ QUOTE ]
How has no one overthrown him yet?

[/ QUOTE ]

Whose going to overthrow him? Mugabe got into power via revolution when things were pretty bad for blacks there, after the revolution things have gotten worse. Who wants control of that mess? Capital has been stripped, industries basically wiped out and the decisions he makes are getting worse and worse. How long could you last if you seize power? 4-5 years before another group comes along and does the same to you?

[bobman0330]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How has no one overthrown him yet?

[/ QUOTE ]

Whose going to overthrow him? Mugabe got into power via revolution when things were pretty bad for blacks there, after the revolution things have gotten worse. Who wants control of that mess? Capital has been stripped, industries basically wiped out and the decisions he makes are getting worse and worse. How long could you last if you seize power? 4-5 years before another group comes along and does the same to you?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's true, but there have to be people in the ruling party who'd rather see things stay the same than get even worse, right?

[lehighguy]

Does his country get foreign aid? That's how most dictators stay in power.

[tolbiny]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How has no one overthrown him yet?

[/ QUOTE ]

Whose going to overthrow him? Mugabe got into power via revolution when things were pretty bad for blacks there, after the revolution things have gotten worse. Who wants control of that mess? Capital has been stripped, industries basically wiped out and the decisions he makes are getting worse and worse. How long could you last if you seize power? 4-5 years before another group comes along and does the same to you?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's true, but there have to be people in the ruling party who'd rather see things stay the same than get even worse, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Its widely reported that Mugabe has (or had for a long stretch) untreated syphilis, so its highly likely that hes not entirely rational. He is also the leader of a revolution so those in power with him were probably involved with the war. They are not to likely to be educated, thoughtful and peaceful, they won because they were violent and ruthless (things they learned from the whites when they ruled). So basically it boils down to- if you know whats going on you don't want to be in charge, and if you don't know whats going on you are likely to buy into the "other people are ruining the economy to keep us down" propaganda Mugabe spews. And there is good reason to believe it in that county, there really was an overclass overtly opressing blacks for a long time, its not hard to think it could happen again.

[GoodCallYouWin]

What a fool... he should have ordered the wholesalers to cut their prices in half too!

[SNOWBALL]

I'm pretty sure Mugabe got most of his ideas from this guy