I discovered this:
def f(name):
import inspect
c_frame = inspect.getouterframes(inspect.currentframe(), 1)[1][0]
c_args, c_varargs, c_varkw, c_locals =
inspect.getargvalues(c_frame)
d = dict(c_locals)
return d[name]
def g():
a=5
print f('a')
g() # prints 5
