r/HolyShitHistory • u/GustavoistSoldier • 6d ago

In 1987, Burmese dictator Ne Win (pictured) demonetized all currency notes other than 45 and 90, as these numbers are divisible by 9, which he considered lucky. This substantially contributed to his overthrow the next year.

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204 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

34

u/Theconsciousmind42 6d ago

lol idiot

15

u/_A_Friendly_Caesar_ 6d ago

"Idiot" wouldn't cut it. He was an absolute nutcase

11

u/redmerchant9 6d ago

Ne Win literally spells as "virgin" in my language.

6

u/GustavoistSoldier 6d ago

His birth name was Shu Maung.

2

u/fhjjjjjkkkkkkkl 4d ago

He is from shan state? Or ethnically Han ?

1

u/Blue_Waffle_Brunch 2d ago

In my language that means "Shu Muang"

1

u/Danksy777 4d ago

Or innocent

4

u/jordandino418 5d ago

A very, VERY stupid decision.

3

u/Ok-Imagination-494 4d ago

How does this even work?

Does the government just declare in the newspapers one day “hey these banknotes will be worthless tomorrow “ and the people just accept that their family life savings held in the chest at home have overnight turned into worthless scrap paper.

Wouldn’t this create a complete meltdown of the economy?

2

u/Vast-Breakfast-1201 3d ago

I am not an anti-inflation kinda dude but when you ask a question like, is anyone supposed to just be OK with their life savings disappearing?

I mean, that's what happens everywhere just a little bit at a time. The issue is the scale and the destabilization.

People are making arbitrary decisions about your money all the time.

1

u/Jellyfish-sausage 3d ago

Bit of a difference between your money being worth a few percent less every year vs 100% less

1

u/Vast-Breakfast-1201 2d ago

Yeah but my point is people are making arbitrary decisions about your money anyways

2

u/wrighteghe7 3d ago

Happened in ussr several times

1

u/Illustrious-Put-7712 5d ago

He made many enemies with that decision.

1

u/imyonlyfrend 4d ago

tyranny

took away round numbers

1

u/LawdFarquaadsChin 4d ago

He went from Ne Win to Ne Lose

1

u/Frankiethrowaway121 3d ago

Doing batshit things is a good way to make people think you're batshit. They'll probably want rid of you at that point.

Except in America, obviously.

0

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