We're all gonna be Millionaires

How, you ask? How can anyone speak of becoming so wealthy in such an economic climate as this? Well, let me tell you, you're not thinking outside of the box.

(Above: some real "Slumdog Millionaires".)

If we continue down the path to hyperinflation, then we will all be millionaires, no billionaires, in no time at all. I never said whether these millions or billions will buy you a yacht or just a loaf of bread, though, did I? ;)

I had to include these woeful clippings from the Wikipedia entry on the Zimbabwean Dollar (the currency shown above). Unlike the Federal Reserve, these guys didn't mess around for 90 years before destroying everything!

At independence in 1980, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced notes in denominations of 2, 5, 10 and 20 dollars. A 50 dollar banknote was introduced in 1994, followed by 100 dollars in 1995, 500 dollars in 2001, and 1000 dollars in 2003.

In 2003, with mounting inflation, the reserve bank started issuing travelers cheques in denominations of 1000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 dollars. These were superseded later the same year by bearer cheques, initially in denominations of 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 dollars, with cheques for 50,000 and 100,000 dollars following in 2006.
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At a press conference on 16 January 2008, reserve bank Governor Gono stated that "With effect from Friday (January 18), the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is releasing the following bearer cheques into circulation: one million dollars (officially worth about US$33/22 euros but worth about 50c at the parallel rate), five million dollars and 10 million dollars." He continued,"...daily cash withdrawals have been increased from the current Z$50 million to Z$500 million per individual." Less than a month after announcing a similar move, Gono said the new notes would provide much needed relief to consumers who often have to go shopping with sacks of cash.
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Despite rampant inflation continuing into 2009 that has rendered the currency worthless and spurred increasing dollarization of the economy, the RBZ has announced yet another set of new notes, this time in denominations of $20 billion and $50 billion to be released 12 January. Stepping up another order of magnitude, the reserve bank announced the trillion denomination for the first time, unveiling banknotes valued at $10 trillion, $20 trillion, $50 trillion, and $100 trillion on 16 January. The new notes are supposed to help citizens still in formal employment to withdraw a full month's worth of salary by showing a corresponding payslip. On 2 February 2009 the central bank announced that it had revalued the currency again, this time removing 12 zeroes, causing Z$1 trillion to be reduced to Z$1.

What happens when people lose faith in fiat money? Over time, it reverts to its real market value. In other words, the value of the materials and work put into making it. Which in the case of creating fiat money from thin air, isn't very much...

But the upside is, thanks to central bank policy worldwide, the chances of you becoming a millionaire are ever increasing...if you don't mind being a millionaire who struggles to pay for food, like the people of Zimbabwe ;)