A Beer Standard of Exchange

Frank A. Weil proposed a beer standard of exchange on the Huffington Post. In the 1950s, a beer cost about a quarter in Pounds Sterling, French Francs, German Marks, Japanese Yen, while it cost about ten cents in the US. Today a beer in Switzerland costs four Swiss francs, which is $6 USD. Good for the Swiss, not so good for the US tourist.

Still, it may help average Americans plan their short-term daily lives if they can see a schedule in their local news giving the price of a beer in many different places priced in dollars at that moment. The currently published exchange rate schedules may be useful to some, but a beer standard would be helpful to everyone.