Paying too much for donut sticks by the lake in Hanoi seemed innocent enough.
You pay a little more than the odds, so what harm can it do? Donut lady gets a little extra cash and you don't miss a few thousand dong because, once you escape the local currency\haggling bubble, it is only a very small amount.
3,000 dongs buys a donut on a wooden kebab stick. 10,000 buys you four. We paid 15,000 in an act of foolish generosity.
You wouldn't think it would cause a problem but it is a lesson in how inflation works.
Supply and demand usually dictate price and the market adjusts to reflect fluctuations in both. But something else happened today. Donut Lady One (DLO) was pleased at the mark up she obtained but Donut Lady Two (DLT) over heard and beetled across to investigate. There was a discussion in Vietnamese between them, the gist of which was that DLO was breaking trade practices\cartel arrangements. Then DLT questioned us closely on price and quantity offered by DLO. An international incident was brewing so we scurried off.
After a nice walk around the lake we returned to the spot.
Donut Lady Three made a bee line for us. 15,000 for three donuts, she said, without a hint of the usual try on that precedes the proper negotiations. DLT was close behind, monitoring the transaction. 12,000, we said. She held her line and walked away before we did.
From 10,000 for four to 15,000 for three in less than two hours.
That is hyper inflation.
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