Currency

Gideon Gono prints money, lots and lots of money that's worth next to nothing. Depending on whom you talk to, the architect of Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is a megalomaniac, a workaholic, a thief -- or the country's savior. Zimbabwe's central bank chief seems to have a finger in every government ministry. No project goes ahead without his approval. No underling approaches without fear and trembling.

In asserting that Beijing is "manipulating" its currency, U.S. Treasury secretary nominee Timothy Geithner raised the hopes of some American politicians and business groups that have long pressed for tougher action against China. But the reality is that the Obama administration might have even less leverage than the Bush team to persuade the Chinese on the currency and other economic issues, at least for now.

A flood of high-quality counterfeit U.S. money from Peru is perplexing federal authorities, who say the shadowy networks that are responsible are also engaging in other criminal activity that poses a threat to national security. Over the last year, authorities and banks have recovered at least $7.8 million in fake notes across the United States that they believe were manufactured in Peru, according to Secret Service statistics. In addition, $446,280 in fake U.S. cash from Peru was seized before it was spent during that same period, and more than $18.2 million more in raids in the South American country, the Secret Service said.

War is in the wind, and the value of the dollar is bouncing all over the place in northern Iraq. The old Kurdish woman with a plastic bag of $100 bills didn't trust the money-changer. She scribbled exchange rates on the palm of her left hand while clutching the bills. Satisfied that the changer's calculations were precise, she handed him the American cash and scooped up a wad of old dinars. Wall Street has nothing on the grimy alleys of this Kurdish city, where one can buy a live chicken or rabbit for dinner while checking the currency rates for any number of countries.

The head of the European Central Bank on Wednesday shot down hopes that the bank would join the U.S. Federal Reserve in easing credit, fueling a fresh sell-off in stocks across the region. In a speech before the European Commission, central bank President Jean-Claude Trichet made it clear that damping inflationary pressures remained his top priority.

Pushed to the fringes by a money-driven social divide, Rosa is what Cubans call a "marginal" person. She's lived all of her 72 years in a shabby enclave of Marianao, a neighborhood where crude wooden cottages, their rotting boards held together with coats of paint, descend into a gully strewn with refuse and sewage.

Beijing is tightening financial controls on trade to curb multibillion-dollar flows of speculative "hot money" into China that regulators say could fuel inflation, the government announced Thursday. Beijing is trying to stop financial inflows that evade China's strict controls and are believed to be adding to pressure for prices to rise at a time when the level of inflation is at a 12-year high.

For 60 years, happy diners at the now-shuttered Homestead tacked dollar bills to the walls, dated and inscribed with a line or two to mark the occasion. A tradition in the high-desert hamlet of Inyokern, it made the cozy, wood-paneled restaurant a place to remember. So when a man last week used 10 of the bills -- some inked with the word "Homestead" -- to pay part of a court fine, a clerk remembered.

"Travel," says Leon Logothetis, "is fuel for the soul." But what happens when the price of fuel hits the stratosphere? If you travel the way Logothetis does, that won't be an issue. He's the host of the reality show "Amazing Adventures of a Nobody," in which he travels on about $5 a day. Like Blanche DuBois, he depends on the kindness of strangers in his journeys in England, the Continent and the U.S. on only a few farthings. How does he do it? He's resourceful and creative.

In this tough economy, Valerie Whitlock uses two forms of currency: money and barter. The 37-year-old actress and writer from Studio City holds down sporadic film and television gigs to cover her rent, utilities, car payments and insurance. For everything else -- head shots and haircuts, clothing and cut reels -- she trades her handcrafted jewelry. She started swapping for goods while at work on the set.