Economy

On Yap island in the Pacific Ocean, giant wheel-shaped stones called "Fei" served as currency. One familys ancestor lost an enormous Fei to a storm while transporting it by canoe, but fellow travelers testified to its existence, so the stone retained its value at the bottom of the sea.

In Korea, only two companies can make soju bottle caps—not due to technical difficulty, but because the National Tax Service since 1972 restricts production to designated firms, cross-checking cap counts against liquor output to prevent tax evasion.

When Venezuela's economy collapsed, playing RuneScape for about $100 a month became more profitable than a typical Venezuelan college graduate's salary. The game became a genuine source of income for many Venezuelans.