Since 1934 the Swiss Wirtschaftsring (“Economic Circle”) or WIR-Bank, has issued its own currency. This WIR-money is used in a highly counter-cyclical fashion: firms are cash-short in a recession, and economize by greater use of WIR.  A money-in-the-production-function (MIPF) model implies that this new spending arises through the generation of new bank balances, rather than increased velocity.  This is confirmed with panel data on transactions by industrial sector.  WIR balances are more counter-cyclical for larger firms, and play a role similar to trade credits supplied to smaller customers and distributors. The counter-cyclical multiplier on WIR expenditures is thus highly leveraged.