We don’t cover this often but now and then a piece of this slow-motion train wreck will fly off so spectacularly that it simply must be remarked upon. The last time was in February, when Mugabe thought it’d be a good idea in the midst of an economic collapse caused by his own confiscatory Marxist policies to pay for his birthday party with the wages of civil servants. Today comes his latest bright idea, a solution to hyperinflation that’s reached 10,000% and is still rising:

Price controls, naturally. What could go wrong?

Panic buying swept through the streets of Zimbabwe yesterday, as stores ran out of basic goods and shopkeepers complained that they were selling goods at a loss after the government ordered prices to be halved in a last-ditch effort to tackle hyper-inflation…

By making it uneconomic to produce and sell goods and food, Mr Mugabe risks further damaging the country’s limping economy, which has shrunk by 50% over the past seven years. Economists warn the move will not control inflation but will simply push goods on to the thriving black market. Analysts say many companies and industries could go bankrupt, adding to Zimbabwe’s unemployment, which is already estimated at 80%…

“Those found on the wrong side of the law will be punished severely,” [Vice President Joseph] Msika told state radio. “We will take their businesses, we will take their licences. They have raised prices to a level the people cannot afford so they must die in agony with hunger.”

The U.S. ambassador predicts inflation by the end of the year of … 1,500,000%. Exit question: How bad do you have to be to have Catholic bishops inviting western countries to wage war on and kill you?