The price of a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe these days is 7.5 trillion dollars. That’s the good news: four days ago it was four times that much. Ever since news of the power-sharing accord between the 84-year old dictator Robert Mugabe (can we call him that anymore?) and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai last Monday, the effect on the nation's economy has been palpable. With the exception of fuel, prices of commodities on the black market have started to drop across the country in response to political stablization. Buoyed by the news, Zimbabweans enjoyed their first full day today getting used to the new 1000 Shilling note – a government attempt to normalize the 11 million percent inflation rate.

Whether the power-sharing accord will have the same effect on the political tensions as it has had on the economy remains to be seen. Mugabe, for one, clearly isn’t thrilled about the agreement. He called it a “humiliation” today. Nevertheless he signaled that it was necessary for his ruling ZANU-PF party to get fully behind it. (Theories as to why Mugabe agreed to share power abound; one holds that he was pressured by regional leaders; another holds that he has wanted to enter the arrangement but has felt contrained by his cohorts in the government.)

Everyone can agree on one thing -- it's going to be a long time before the country can begin to heal. “The objective here is democratization,” Nelson Chamisa, one of Tsvangirai’s spokesmen told me today. “It’s not an overnight project.” Luckily for Zimbabweans, the price of bread is working on a much more agreeable schedule.