Can a new local currency help a debt-stricken community get back on its feet? A Hamburg-based theater group is hoping to do just that in the German city of Oberhausen. Locals will be able to earn “coals” through voluntary work and exchange them for goods and services.
All around Europe, governments are cutting back on spending in reaction to the euro crisis. But in one small city in Germany, locals are bucking the trend. Fed up with austerity, they are planning to spend more, not less, money — and they are making it themselves.