10 Years After?

No, not the Woodstock band.

Is this us, the US, in 10 years?  15?  The country of Zimbabwe formally killed off it's currency today.

The Zimbabwean dollar will be taken from circulation, formalizing a multi-currency system introduced in 2009 to help stem inflation and stabilize the economy.

The central bank will offer $5 for every 175 quadrillion, or 175,000 trillion, Zimbabwean dollars, Governor John Mangudya said in an e-mailed statement from the capital, Harare. While it marks the official dropping of the currency, transactions in the southern African nation have been made using mainly the U.S. dollar and rand of neighboring South Africa for six years.

Just for effect, let me point out that $5 US corresponds to $175,000,000,000,000,000.  Before Robert Mugabe and the Glorious Socialist Revolution, $5 US corresponded to $5 Zimbabwe.  Then inflation surged to 500 billion percent.  And, well, here we are now. 

Remember the halcyon days of 2008 when you could buy a few eggs for 100 Billion Zim Dollars?

There are big enough differences between the US and Zimbabwe that a simple comparison isn't appropriate.  That doesn't mean we can't end up the same way.