[maclured]

As I understand it, reflationing is fine provided you have a strong sovereign currency so you aren't at the mercy of the international forex markets. The US ticks this box, therefore it can pump out new money without the same risk of hyperinflation.

ZMB OTOH probably had a weak currency and an economy largely dependent on imports. Therefore when they started printing money it became worthless since it was a proxy for a currency they didn't control (the USD), and a strengthening of the USD would have a huge impact in reducing confidence in the ZMB dollar. A similar thing happened in Venezuela and Post-WW1 Germany I think.

For a better explanation see Big Debt Crises by Dalio.

[orwin]

> economy largely dependent on imports

That's the root cause of ZMB hyperinflation. As well as droughts and a reshuffling of agricultural land that did not benefit anyone, decreased overall production and created food stress.