China to float Zimbabwe giant loan, worth near one-quarter of Zim GDP

[Lenny]

China 'agrees huge Zimbabwe loan'
China has agreed to give Zimbabwe a loan of $950m (£573m) to help it revive its battered economy, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said.
The government says it needs some $8bn to rebuild the country following years of collapse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8126555.stm

Zimbabwe's current GDP is probably around $4.5 billion.

--> A $950-million loan to Zim amounts to 21% of their GDP.
--> An equivalent loan %-wise to the U.S. economy would be $3-trillion.
--> The "Big Bailout" from late last year in the USA was only $700-billion.

--> Zim says it "needs" $8-billion to "rebuild its economy" (as if this were 1946 Europe...); that amounts to 178% of its entire GDP.
--> An equivalent loan %-wise to the U.S. economy as Zim wants (the $8-billion) would come to $25-trillion, or 36% of the entire Gross World Product.

[Óttar]

The US should do everything in its power to covertly destroy the Chinese economy and find a way to become economically independent of the Chinese. This is I fear completely impossible, but a man can dream. On the other hand it would be really interesting to see Chinese colonies sprouting up in Africa.

[Cato]

China doesn't give a rat's ass about Zimbabwe except that it's got lots of loot to plunder.

[Lenny]

I've been looking for statistics on Rhodesia GDP before 1980. I found this. All the below GDP figures are derived from this source, "The World Economy; By Angus Maddison,(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development)", p.223 [and converted to today's dollars using this].

The story
--> In 1964, Rhodesia's economy was $12.5-billion in today's dollars.
--> Ian Smith declared independence in 1965, after Britain declared its intent to transition to Black Rule.
--> British sanctions followed, crippling the economy (Britain accounted for the majority of Rhodesian trade in and out), causing severe wartime-like gasoline shortages for years, etc., until serious autarkic policies began to mature by late-1969 and 1970.
--> By 1974, the now-autarkic economy had amazingly recovered from the post-Independence disruption, and even gained ground, to $14-billion (in today's dollars). Rhodesia was now almost totally unreliant on foreign trade and could have remained so indefinitely.
--> By 1980, following years of a military-spending sinkhole fighting off a radical black communist insurgency; ongoing sanctions; and international-pariah-ism; the economy had still bumped up to $15-billion in today's dollars.
--> They were almost totally unreliant on the outside world, but still dependent on gasoline imports via South Africa (their only semi-ally, other than hardline anti-communists and racialists sprinkled throughout the West) to fuel their modern military/economy. When the RSA turned on Rhodesia and cut off fuel shipments in 1980, the End of Rhodesia followed in a matter of days, communist thug Mugabe soon took power, and the rest is history.

Anyway, the GDP figures, In sum,
Rhodesian GDP in today's dollars
1950:...$3.3-billion
1964: $12.5-billion
[1965-1969: British trade embargo causes sharp decline]
1974: $14.0-billion
1980: $15.0-billion
2009:...$4.5-billion(?)

Look at the 1950 and 2009 figures again. Imagine a country today that has had all of its post-1950 economic gains wiped out...! Zimbabwe is such a country.

[Lenny]

the GDP figures, In sum,
Rhodesian GDP in today's dollars
1950:...$3.3-billion
1964: $12.5-billion
[1965-1969: British trade embargo causes sharp decline]
1974: $14.0-billion
1980: $15.0-billion
2009:...$4.5-billion(?)

Black tribute to Ian Smith (upon his death in South Africa in 2007).

--> "It was better under Smith" (black Zimbabweans now admire him and the 'Republic of Rhodesia' days).
--> Provided best health, education, & housing for black people in all Africa.
--> Economy strengthened in isolation against all odds.
--> His Western constitutional principles opposed the Moscow-backed Marxist-Leninist thugs led by Mugabe.
--> ...It took Mugabe’s Marxist party not but 20 years to destroy this solidly-built economy, infrastructure and people.