SUE LOWDEN is probably going to be the next senator from Nevada. The Republican currently holds a double-digit lead over Harry Reid, the incumbent Democrat, in the polls. Ms Lowden wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and last week, she suggested alternative ways for people to pay for medical care: save up to $20,000 in a medical savings account, or "barter with your doctor". At first, people assumed she meant "haggle". But TalkingPointsMemo's Rachel Slajda says that in Ms Lowden's appearance on a local news programme the day before yesterday, it appeared she really meant "barter", as in offering goods or services in kind. Chickens, to be specific.

It's not clear how far Ms Lowden wants to take this idea of widening the barter economy, but it could have far-reaching ramifications, not just for health-care reform but for financial-sector reform as well. For example, payment in kind would eliminate many of the risky innovations that led to the financial crisis. It would be virtually impossible to structure a chicken-based CDO; sure, you could find buyers for the breast tranche easily enough, but who would take all those necks and feet? Leverage rules become much less necessary when you can only hedge with items that actually exist; it's hard to imagine the notional value of chicken-based hedges greatly exceeding the number of actual chickens on the planet. And all this could be accomplished without any new taxes.

That said, I don't think this paper can come out in support of a sharp move towards reliance on a barter economy. The consensus weighs firmly in favour of the view that the existence of money has been good for the economy.