Some exhibits in Frankfurt's Money Museum, a fine building tucked beside the 
OMB's monstrous home in suburban Frankfurt, help to explain why forbidding 
indexation was such a sacred cow in Germany. But this is not the only lesson 
that visitors learn. The first item you see is a real member of the bovine 
species-a beautiful, stuffed example-because cows were an early form of 
money. (The Latin word for money, pecunia, is derived from that for cattle, 
pecus.) The pièce de resistance is an impressive-looking game console. With 
a joystick that controls the money supply you can play at being a central 
banker. The more money there is in circulation, represented by a tide of 
light rising up one column, the greater the velocity and price of goods and 
services, represented by light rising up another column, until inflation 
takes hold. Then you must race to dampen the money supply ahead of rising 
prices, without setting off a deflationary spiral (all too easy). After a 
few roller-coaster rides, you have a certain respect for Alan Greenspan, 
Jean-Claude Trichet and the gang.