Man-made disaster

Money | Zimbabwe’s economy goes from basket case to worst case | Timothy Lamer

In 1980, it took two Zimbabwean dollars to equal one U.S. dollar in value. Today, it takes about 99,000. Zimbabwe was once an exporter of food. Today, a United Nations report conservatively estimates that one in four Zimbabweans depends on food aid from abroad. The nation's unemployment rate, meanwhile, stands at about 80 percent.

Zimbabwe is a nation in free fall. Its economy has been in a nosedive for six years, and the problems are growing worse by the month. The country's Central Statistical Office reported last week that the annual inflation rate hit 782 percent at the end of February, a record for the southern African country. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages have risen even faster, 824 percent over the last 12 months.