Chapter Eleven

What caught my attention in this chapter was the idea of a "soft currency." Wheelan tells a story about a time that he crossed into East Berlin and was given currency that wasn't good anywhere else and how he in fact had to leave his money there in an "account." This idea helps him explain his next example with Pepsi selling its product in the Soviet Union. Instead of selling their soda, Pepsi simply bartered with the Soviet Union and got Stolichnaya vodka instead. The vodka held actual value, therefore this system worked. The problems come when this trade doesn't work as orderly resulting in riots and chaos.