Zimbabwe Theory Of Quantum Mathematics

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Doc

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A lot of effort for a beer. But it seems worthwhile :p

Doc

Zimbabwe Theory of Quantum Mathematics

Introduction to theZimbabwe Theory of Quantum Mathematics. Also known as Bobenomics

The day is very hot and you are passing the Keg and Sable in Borrowdale,Harare, Zimbabwe, so naturally you go in for a nice cold beer. The barman informs you that One beer now costs 150 000 Zimbabwe dollars.

You can pay with three crisp new $50 000 notes, still damp from the printing press. Or, if you are feeling a bit bloody-minded, and if you can still source the coins (remember those things : they were still quite common a few years ago ) you can sit back and enjoy a beer while the barman counts out 15 000 000 Zimbabwe one cent coins.

But hold it ! We have a problem.
Each Zim one cent coin weighs 3 grams

So this little lot weighs in at 45 000 000 grams or 45 000 kgs or 45 Tonnes

After humping 45 tonnes of coins into the pub you are going to need a helluva lot more than one beer to cool down. But don`t panic - we have a plan. Like all brilliant ideas this one relies entirely on its simplicity.

Plan B : We sell the metal and drink the proceeds

There is a small legal question about smelting coin of the realm and exporting the resulting brass ingots. However we'll let the buyer worry about that one.
There doesn't seem to be an international price for brass. Its main ingredient, copper, has recently been selling for an all-time high of US $5 200 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, but we won't be greedy. For a quick sale let's discount it to US $ 2 600 a tonne

We are now the proud owners of US $ 117 000

But we still can't buy that beer as the Keg is only allowed to accept Zimbabwe currency. We must resist the temptation to change our money on the lucrative but illegal black market ( only the Governor of the Reserve Bank and Cabinet Ministers are allowed to do that ) . So we change at the prevailing interbank mid rate which is US $ 1 : Zim $ 99 201,58

Our heap of U S green-backs now miraculously becomes a mountain of Zim $ 11 606 584 860

For the uninitiated the billions start at the tenth figure, counting from the right.
So if the price of beer has not increased while we were doing this calculation you can now walk back into the Keg and order 77 377 beers !

HAPPY DRINKING

P S For current inflationary reasons it is advisable to review these figures
on a daily basis.
 
wow. I didn't realise they had hyperinflation that bad! Sounds like the Weimar Republic in the 20's... stories of taking trolleys full of cash from work on pay-minute and running to the greengrocer, if you were a couple of minutes late you missed out on paying for what you needed!
 
DJR said:
wow. I didn't realise they had hyperinflation that bad! Sounds like the Weimar Republic in the 20's... stories of taking trolleys full of cash from work on pay-minute and running to the greengrocer, if you were a couple of minutes late you missed out on paying for what you needed!
[post="129251"][/post]​

My parents worked for the UN in Peru in the 70s and they had the hyperinflation thibng happening therre too. Apparently every few months they would print new notes with an extra 0 so the 2 became the 20 and the 200, 2000 and so on. I think they weer up to the 2000000 when the coup happened and my parents (and me by that time) had to leave.

You had to spend your money the day you earned it as it could be worthless tomorrow. Fortunatly my folks were paid by the UN in hard currency.

Apparently the new government re-valued the curerncy at 1:1000000 and printred new small denomonation notes (with pictures of the new il presedente of course) and the whole cycle started again.

Cheers
Dave
 
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