(this windfall is thanks to Brian Kane)
When I was working in Kosovo, the Serbian dinar was (to be charitable) struggling. The rate of inflation was epic, and there were stories of menu prices in restaurants changing from the time you ordered until you paid your bill. I remember seeing a story on Serbian state television about a man who wanted to wallpaper his house, but calculated that it would be cheaper to use paper dinars instead of wallpaper. Sure, the end result was a bit…busy, but he did save a few thousand dinar while getting his 15 minutes of what passes for fame in Serbia.
When I returned to the US, a few of my Albanian friends gave me a 1,000,000,000 Serbian dinar note as a parting gift. At that time, I think it was worth about $10-$15. Yes, there’s one place in the world where I can honestly claim to be a billionaire. That and a quarter might get me a couple shots of slivovitz….
While I was in Croatia, that country was beset by similar economic woes, and you could see beggars sitting on street corners with inches-thinck collections of paper bills…that in reality were worth barely a few bucks. I still have a two-inch-thick pile of Croatian bills that was worth barely $2 when I left. They make great party favors.
Wallpaper, indeed….
