The Massive Gap Between Official Turkish Inflation and Reality The Turkish economy is a trainwreck. Labor is constantly striking for higher wages because inflation is so high. According to the Labor Studies Group, at least 56 worker strikes broke out in Turkey between January 12th and February 10th, and last year the Turkish currency lost 40% of its value against the U.S. Dollar. Interestingly, contrary to all mainstream Economists, Turkey’s President Erdogan insists that lower interest rates fight inflation. So he has kept interest rates artificially low, making the situation worse. Turkey’s falling exchange rate creates a problem for Turkish businesses that get their revenues in lira and … [Read more...]
Hyperinflation Strikes Lebanon… Again
Lebanon's economy is crashing and burning... literally. Fiery protests began in August 2019, in the wake of youth unemployment reaching 37% and the general unemployment at 25%. This was even before the entire world shut down due to COVID. And this was just the beginning of hyperinflation for Lebanon. In 2019 Lebanon's inflation rate averaged a reasonable 2.9% for the entire year, but by July 2020 Lebanese inflation was well into hyperinflationary territory at 112.39%. So prices were moving up so fast they had more than doubled from July 2019 through July 2020. And from there it got worse. From August 2019 through August 2020 prices were up over 120%. And remember that the average for 2019 … [Read more...]
