In Vietnam, even ghosts feel inflation's pinch

A vendor offering goods in Hanoi. August is when Vietnamese Buddhists traditionally provide offerings to the deceased, but many ghosts have gone hungry this year. (Justin Mott for The New York Times)

HANOI: Even the ghosts are suffering from inflation in Vietnam this year.

August is the month when Buddhists provide the hungry ghosts of the dead with food and wine and cigarettes and paper offerings that represent the good things in life - cars, houses, motorbikes, stereo sets, fancy suits of clothes. But like everything else in Vietnam, these brightly colored offerings have risen steeply in price and shopkeepers say people... read more...

Published: August 19, 2008 - By Seth Mydans. International Herald Tribune