Even before the global financial crisis hit late in 2008, the Vietnamese government was already working to halt galloping inflation and investment due to an overheated real estate sector.

VOA: standard.2009.10.16

The deep downturns of the early 1980s were largely engineered by the Federal Reserve, which boosted short-term interest rates to near 20% to slow down galloping inflation.

ECONOMIST: Bucking up this recovery is harder than it was in the past

The latest setback for Zimbabwe came as newspapers reported that the government was freezing wages for public sector workers as part of efforts restrain galloping inflation and restore macroeconomic stability.

BBC: World Bank halts Zimbabwe loans

By that measure, the Everyday Price Index shows inflation galloping ahead at an 8.1 percent annual rate, a reading that would put the current Misery Index at a Carter-like 16.4 percent not a good recipe for re-election.

FORBES: Inflation Isn't The Point Of Monetary Easing