Hungary In Throws Of Economic Anarchy: Compared with Germany, Hungary suffered comparitively little from allied bombs, but the collapse of the Pengo, which is to Hungary what the dollar is to America, has caused a type of destruction that, in the long view, may prove far more punishing than the bombs that shattered Germany. The Pengo was worth 17.49 cents before the war. Today you night put down as valueless. If you wanted to deal in Pengoes you could get 6,000,000 of them for a dollar. Mecca of dealers in Budapest today is the black market, and the Merchant Prince is the man who has a supply of sugar or any of the "impossible to get" essentials to living. The Teki-Ter in Budapest is one of the most notorious black markets in the Balkans. Here you may see a packet of sugar, a small packet, changes hands for a gold ring, or a bicycle for a loaf of bread. You are laughed at if you produce Hungarian money. American dollars are good. It is illegal to deal in them, but this is on determent to people who know that unless Government regulations are broken, they are faced with starvation. There is paralysis in production, ditto in transportation, apparently ditto in planning. Inflation at its worst grips the unfortunate country. It is economic anarchy, which has had some curious results. One of them is the levelling of all social strata. The pre-war Merchant Prince sits side by side with the pre-war Merchant Prince sits side by side with the pre-war junkman in the Teki-Ter and barters oddments. The ex-Junkie is probably a better businessman at this kind of thing, but it always was his business. Her knows the complexities of the barter system. Informed opinion estimates that the social and economic rehabilitation of Hungary will not be completed under fifty years. Some say that this is conservative. Photo shows Bombs were no respective of majesty. This heap of rubble was once the Royal Palace of the Hapsburgs, and later the Palace of Regent Admiral Nicholas Horthy. No attempt has yet been made to clean up the debris.
Photo measures 10 x 8 inches.
Photo is dated --0000.
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