The economy of Zimbabwe seems to be on the verge of collapse. Inflation is around 1000% a year. This is interesting because once upon a time, back in the days when South Africa was still apartheid, Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, was trumpeted as an example of how whites could successfully relinquish their power to the majority.
Zimbabwe no longer looks like much of a success today. Once one of the strongest economies in Africa, Zimbabwe has now sunk down to the abysmal level of the other countries in the continent. The real tailspin began six years ago when the farms owned by whites were confiscated by the government and redistributed to poor blacks. This scared away all foreign investment and the farms were not run well after they were redistributed. It's almost like a page out of Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged.
There probably won't be much analysis of Zimbabwe in either the blogosphere or the MSM, because it's hard to not sound racist if one suggests that the blacks of Zimbabwe were better off when white people were running things.
One wonders if South Africa is headed down this same path. Is it safe to invest in South African stocks?.
"The real tailspin began six years ago when the farms owned by whites were confiscated by the government and redistributed to poor blacks."
Not quite correct.
"...confiscated by the government and redistributed to ZANU supporters." - ie Mugabes mates and henchmen - and you would be right.
Go back a year or two and look for the reports of the "cleaning of Harare". The "poor" being removed from Harare were prodominantly members of the opposition, a large number were ex-employees of the white farmers.
The most notable effect of Mugabe's policy has been a major (about 85%) drop in agricultural production.
Posted by: probligo | May 03, 2006 at 05:47 PM