Historical Error #29: Ellen Brown Stands by Her Expert Witness for Zimbabwe's Victimization: The Central Bank of Zimbabwe
Ellen Brown says that central banks that are 100% government-owned do not produce hyperinflation. So, we can trust government currencies. We can therefore trust Congress to manage a 100% fiat dollar.
She has a problem. Zimbabwe's central bank is 100% government-owned. You could verify this by going to its website, but its website is down -- as is the central bank itself. Its 2,000 emplyees do nothing, which is good for the economy, compared to when they were working. Some spend their days playing computer games.
Meanwhile, members of the bloated central bank staff continue to bide their time at the bank. Some say they are waiting for a suitable buyout package, although it isn't known how much that will be or where the money will come from. What is clear is that many of Zimbabwe's central bankers hanker for the days when their hands were at the helm of the economy."We had unlimited access to Zimbabwe dollars, and we were the biggest buyers of foreign currency on the black market," says another central bank employee. "But now, even the canteen is serving food that is not even fit for prisoners."
Ah, the good old days, when the bank produced the second worst hyperinflation in history, after Hungery's in 1946. Yes, it was even worse than the German inflation of 1923.
So, she denies that the central bank of Zimbanwe was responsible. She says that her expert witness on the matter of who caused Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is as good as mine. Her witness is the central bank of Zimbabwe.
29. Foreign currency speculators caused Zimbabwe's inflation.I don't see that you've disputed that validity of what I said. This is what my text says:
As usual, the crisis was blamed on the government frantically issuing money; and in this case, the government's printing presses were indeed running. But the country's radical devaluation was still the fault of speculators, and it might have been avoided if the government had used its printing presses in a more prudent way. . . .According to a statement by the Zimbabwe central bank, the hyperinflation was caused by speculators who charged exorbitant rates for US dollars, causing a drastic devaluation of the Zimbabwe currency. [Web of Debt, pp. 246-47]
We both have our sources. Mine disagree with yours on the cause; you haven't shown that yours are more legitimate than mine.
Imagine lawyer Brown's closing statement to a jury.
My client is on trial for counterfeiting. I have provided an expert witness to prove that my client is innocent of the charge against him. That witness was my client. He stated clearly that he is innocent. The reason why he is innocent is that outside agitators took advantage of him. The fact that he had a warehouse full of paper that was cut in the shape of currency units is irrelevant. That vat of ink is also irrelevant. He stated categorically that he did not do anything wrong.Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how can you find my client guilty? With the unimpeachable creditability of my expert witness, it is inconceivable to me that anyone could vote for conviction.
I rest my case.
I presented my case that Zimbabwe's central bank caused Zimbabwe's price inflation.
Here is the testimony of my expert witness:
Note: May 17, 2011: The head of the Bank of Zimbabwe, who oversaw hyperinflation, now recommends a gold standard. http://www.lewrockwell.com/wenzel/wenzel106.html. He has come to his senses. Ellen Brown hasn't.