The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on Chilango's bond issuance (hat tip: Graeme Acheson). Chilango is a Mexican fast-food outlet in London, which is seeking to expand across London. To achieve this, they have issued a four-year bond with an 8% coupon. However, for those who invest £10,000 in the bonds, there is an additional coupon in the form of a free burrito every week during the lifetime of the bond. This seems to be a trend, with Hotel Chocolat paying its bond coupon with chocolate (see video below)! Issuing bonds helps small firms bypass banks and they are not a new innovation. Small firms financed themselves in this manner before 1913.
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.