Local communities in Greece are setting up their own currencies, with the most notable being the Tem. You can read the full story here (hat tip - Chris Colvin). Why are they doing this? Is it anti-Euro sentiment? Is Greece about to exit the Euro and go back to the drachma (see below)? Is it just Greeks asserting and projecting their local identity? My guess is that it has to do with tax evasion.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.