Limited Convertibility

You meet a member of a race of shape-shifting aliens. One problem: they can only shape-shift into brand logos. They are stuck turning into Ronald McDonald or Colonel Sanders. One form of limited convertibility.

Another form has to do with currencies. Most currencies can turn into most other currencies. Take your U.S. dollars to one of those kiosks at the mall and you can get euros, or yen, or rupees, or whatever.

This freedom isn’t universal, though. Some governments have restrictions on what types of currency exchanges can happen. There are tight rules about exchanging the home currencies into foreign currencies. These countries have limited convertibility.