the real thing

Hearts, minds and differing values of money:

This was once the heartland of the 16th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the Marxist guerrilla movement that has fought in Colombia's jungles for the past 44 years.

But now the troops of the 58th Counter-Guerrilla Battalion patrol the dirt streets.

Their presence has stirred deep resentment, revealing the complexities of Colombia's war against Left-wing rebels and drug lords. Countless ordinary people depend on the coca trade. "We are sitting on a mountain of coca and a series of Farc 'IOUs' ", said one local. "We need the rebels back to pay the debts and buy the coca, otherwise the town will die."

No money has reached Guerima for months and transactions are conducted in coca, with one gram enough to buy a soft drink.

Any guesses which soft drink? There are promises of something new, but the folks just want their old, reliable, self-defining industry back. Old Labour, I guess. Via Hit and Run, which carries news of another alternative currency:

This strange alternative to money is used in the prison system; they have been known to use cigarettes, sardine cans and now urine. This has become a precious commodity because drug screening has become much more prominent in penitentiaries. Clean samples are traded and they are usually kept in a condom and warmed to body temperature by rectal insertion.

I’m not sure about this. It brings to mind the old saying about oysters and parking meters. Still, I wonder how much blow you could get for a blob full of piss.

Comments

[dsquared]

Not sure how this effects things, but cocaine (unlike opium) is a perishable good.

[Alex]

Which implies that interest rates would be very high, right?

[ejh]

Hayek would have been delighted.

[ajay]

Countless ordinary people depend on the coca trade. "We are sitting on a mountain of coca and a series of Farc 'IOUs' ", said one local. "We need the rebels back to pay the debts and buy the coca, otherwise the town will die."

The villagers of the Colombian mountains have just discovered the concept of counterparty risk.