In the Bavarian region of Chiemgau, Germany, local shoppers can pay for their würstsalat lunch with brightly coloured Chiemgauer notes. Invented by an economics teacher in 2003, the money loses 2 per cent of its value every three months, funding the scheme, but also providing a helpful incentive to spend.
A similar plan for the US, some sort of tax on notes and coins, is just one of the more radical ideas being tossed around as a way for Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, to revive a sagging US economy.
