Zimbabwe’s Dr Gideon Gono: To Ensure My People Survive, I Had To Find Myself Printing Money.

To all of you who are Dr Gideon Gono fans out there, here are some of his notable commentaries based on a Newsweek interview:

Dr. Gono: I've been condemned by traditional economists who said that printing money is responsible for inflation. Out of the necessity to exist, to ensure my people survive, I had to find myself printing money. I found myself doing extraordinary things that aren't in the textbooks. Then the IMF asked the U.S. to please print money. I began to see the whole world now in a mode of practicing what they have been saying I should not. I decided that God had been on my side and had come to vindicate me.

My comment: Political survival of the Mugabe regime drives Dr. Gono’s policies. Moreover, as Dr. Gono implies, you don’t need the borrowing and lending gobbledygook to debase a currency. 

And this is a lesson that applies even to developed economies faced with the present crisis. While they speak of doing these for the 'good of the people' or restore economic growth, the crux of the matter is that they are wantonly debasing their currencies to reduce real debt levels at the expense of the general public. Unfortunately mainstream economists, most especially the popular genre, don't seem to get it. Policies based on political survival don't match with the interests of the public. 

Dr. Gono: The stockbrokers were creating a money supply that wasn't there. I printed Z$1.5 quadrillion, but the exchange was operating with Z$100 sextillion. So I said, "Who is doing my job?" Unless there is more discipline and honor, the exchange will stay closed. I can't be bothered. I don't know when it'll open. It's a free market, a business which must be allowed to succeed or fail.

My comment: Dr. Gono hates competition and that’s why Zimbabwe stock exchange was closed. He hates it when people shun their currency to look for a substitute 'store of value'. 

Another probable reason could be due to the industry's desire to conduct transactions in foreign currency which obviously will compete and undermine his authority. Where Dr. Gono's power to wield control of his constituents emanates through its currency, a society's shift to an alternative medium of exchange effectively attenuates the vitality of the tyranical Mugabe-Gono regime.

Dr. Gono: It's a mystery to many how I have survived. I am modestly credited with the survival strategy of my country. The issue is if you want to break Zimbabwe and want it to fall, just deal with one man. You deal with Gideon Gono.

My comment: Another example of Fatal Conceit.

Dr. Gono: It's impossible to be directing the course of an entire economy and divorce yourself from politics. Politics are important because the turnaround of the economy hinges on political stability, but I can't tell when that will happen.

My comment: This is an example of an oxymoronic or “seemingly self-contradictory effect” statement. Political stability can't be attained because he and Mr. Mugabe are the cause of the miseries of Zimbabwe.