ChaoSkeptic

If you haven't been following the crazy situation in Zimbabwe over the last couple of years here is all you need to know about their financial troubles: Because Robert Mugabe was printing so much money in order to keep the country afloat that in July 2008 their inflation rate was 231,000,000%. A single egg cost ZW$50 billion. By all measures, their system of currency completely failed. It got so bad that the government was printing ten, fifty and one hundred trillion dollar notes, which thanks to the miracle of eBay I now have in my possession:



Before you go hitting me up for a loan though, realize that these bills are now worth (almost) nothing. The Zimbabwean government abandoned its currency in April 2009. At the time it was the Zimbabwean dollar was the least valued currency in the history. One Zimbabwean dollar was literally worth less than a piece of toilet paper.

The lesson we should learn from this is that money only means something when there is something tangible behind it. Everyone has to agree (more or less) on what is worth how much. If you break the illusion for even a brief moment then all you are left with is funny looking paper that isn't worth wiping your ass with.