Hyperinflation is an extreme form of monetary breakdown in which prices rise at least 50 percent per month. Professor Steve H. Hanke has spent decades measuring, analyzing, and advising governments on the most severe currency collapses in modern history. His work combines real-time market data with rigorous economic frameworks to diagnose crises and design lasting solutions.
Weekly Inflation Dashboards are now updated. View the latest rankings at the #HankeInflationDashboard
Hyperinflation sits at the center of Professor Hanke's life's work. For decades, he has measured, analyzed, and advised governments on some of the most severe monetary breakdowns in modern history, from collapsing currencies to the complete erosion of public trust in financial systems. These episodes are not merely economic failures; they are human crises that destroy savings, destabilize societies, and reshape political outcomes. His work focuses on identifying these breakdowns early, understanding their root causes, and providing policymakers with data-driven insights to prevent or mitigate their worst consequences.
His approach is grounded in one simple principle: markets never lie. When official statistics are manipulated, delayed, or outright fabricated, real-world behavior becomes the most reliable source of truth. That is why he relies on black-market exchange rates and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) to calculate daily implied inflation. These measures capture what people are actually paying, earning, and exchanging in their everyday lives and offer a clear, unfiltered view of a currency's true value.
What Is Hyperinflation?
Hyperinflation is an extreme form of inflation in which prices rise at least 50 percent per month. It occurs when a country rapidly expands its money supply and loses control of its currency. The Hanke-Krus framework provides a rigorous, data-driven method for identifying and cataloguing every historical episode of hyperinflation.
Learn more about What Is Hyperinflation and the Hanke-Krus Model
Hanke's Methodology
Professor Hanke employs the concept of Purchasing Power Parity to calculate implied inflation rates using the following equation:
By tracking black-market exchange rates, this method exposes hidden inflation, quantifies the speed of monetary collapse, and reveals the realities that governments often try to conceal.
What Causes Hyperinflation?
Hyperinflation does not occur at random. In every case documented under the Hanke-Krus framework, hyperinflation was a direct result of prolonged policy failures, including excessive money creation, fiscal dominance, and institutional collapse.
Learn more about what causes hyperinflation
Steve Hanke: The Money Doctor
Professor Hanke is widely known for diagnosing and resolving currency collapses across emerging and crisis-stricken economies. Throughout his career, he has advised governments in Argentina, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Estonia, Lithuania, and many more. His approach centers on creating currency boards or pursuing dollarization to restore credibility, halt inflation, and eliminate the distortions that push people into unofficial markets.
Learn more about Hanke's solutions to hyperinflation
Hanke's Inflation Dashboard
Every week, Professor Hanke publishes country-by-country inflation estimates on Twitter/X (@steve_hanke) using the #HankeInflationDashboard. These estimates use purchasing power parity derived from black-market exchange rates โ giving a true picture of inflation where official statistics are manipulated or suppressed.
https://www.cato.org/research/troubled-currencies
"Markets never lie. When official statistics are manipulated, delayed, or fabricated, real-world behavior โ especially exchange rates in the informal market โ becomes the most reliable source of truth."
- Professor Steve H. Hanke
Case Studies
- Zimbabwe โ The second-worst hyperinflation ever recorded
- Venezuela โ The 57th confirmed episode in the Hanke-Krus Table
- Hungary โ The worst hyperinflation in recorded history
Explore This Topic
- What Is Hyperinflation? (Definition and the Hanke-Krus Model)
- What Causes Hyperinflation?
- Consequences of Hyperinflation
- Hanke's Solutions to Hyperinflation
- The Hanke-Krus World Hyperinflation Table โ The definitive catalogue of 62 documented hyperinflation episodes
- Hanke Misery Index โ Composite measure of economic pain: inflation + unemployment + lending rate โ GDP growth
Related Topics
- Monetarism โ The theoretical foundation for understanding inflation
- Currency Boards โ A key institutional solution to monetary instability
- Dollarization โ Replacing a failed currency with a stable foreign one
Recent Publications (2025โ2026)
- Lรณdz Ghetto Hyperinflation โ Journal Article, World Economics
- Hyperinflation: Zambia, CAF Zone & Belarus โ Journal Article, World Economics