Word: worthlessness
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...Civic Forum, and the allied Public Against Violence in Slovakia, also demanded immediate revision of the official view that the "Prague Spring" reforms of 1968 were worthless...
East Germany will also have to deal with the economic consequences of opening up its borders. As goods and labor begin to flow across the Wall, the difference between the strong West German mark and the virtually worthless East German mark will create a powerful black market. Beyond that, East Germany will need Western help to revive its Rust Bowl of antiquated factories. West Berlin's Economic Research Institute says it will cost $250 billion just to bring the country's hopelessly outmoded communications system up to Western standards. Upgrading roads and rails could cost as much or more...
...stroke of midnight, East Berliners began coming through, some waving their blue ID cards in the air. West Berliners embraced them, offered them champagne and even handed them deutsche mark notes to finance a celebration (the East German mark, a nonconvertible currency, is almost worthless outside the country). "I just can't believe it!" exclaimed Angelika Wache, 34, the first visitor to cross at Checkpoint Charlie. "I don't feel like I'm in prison anymore!" shouted one young man. Torsten Ryl, 24, was one of many who came over just to see what the West was like. "Finally...
...goes under in ten months," she told him, "our whole economy is in trouble." Seven months later, ACC filed for bankruptcy and the retiree lost all his $65,000 -- "$1,000 for every year of my life," he wrote. Some 22,000 other customers hold $250 million worth of worthless ACC bonds...
Western visitors will not reap many bargains from last week's step, which in practical terms will apply to a small portion of transactions. Tourists are generally asked to pay in foreign currency for lodging, transit and food. And as Soviet citizens know painfully well, the ruble is virtually worthless in the domestic economy. Moscow cabbies speed past hapless hailers unless they hold up something more enticing: a greenback or a pack of Marlboro cigarettes...