Should we return to a bartering system?

[Whatthefluff]

[WindAtMyBack]

There are places out in the country where bartering is still a major part of the local economy. In many places "jobs", that pay cash, are hard to come by, and can be almost non-existent. People do a lot of trading instead. They trade goods, and trade labor and services. I've lived places like that and they still exist.

But bartering only works well locally. The money system is necessary for commerce outside the local area. Barter works when two local people directly trade goods or services in person. Farmer Joe trades his corn for Fred's welding service. In the modern economy, it's a complex trade involving millions of people, who are not directly trading with each other.

Person A wants what B has, B wants what C has, C wants what D has, And D wants what A has - except there are millions of people instead of just four. In order to do that you need some kind of credit. It's not possible to do it via direct trading. I can buy a CD on ebay from a guy in Montana, without having to travel to Montana. I just use PayPal or a credit card.

When I first moved to a place with a largely barter economy, someone told me that after a while you learn the true value of things. At first people convert to money. But after a while, people start to look at the true value. What you find is that the monetary value of things is completely out of whack with the inherent practical value.

[dynamicyandere]

It would help keep business transactions honest and make it much more difficult to scam.


But, would be very difficult to coordinate given how complex goods and services have become.


For example, a car factory can’t pay their workers in car parts. If they were to do that, then the workers would then need to find a way to sell car parts in exchange for food.


But, if the people with the food are the farmers, the farmers can only accept so many car parts before they’ll have no use for them.


In a day and age where we are all just trading natural resources (or tools that help acquire natural resources) that can work.


But, the more complex an economic ecosystem becomes, the harder it would be to execute a bartering system.


It could work in a medieval or post-apocalyptic world though. There, what could be bartered would be things like labor, food, water, supplies, tools, weapons, clothing, resources for crafting, etc.


A simple economic ecosystem, where things can easily be exchanged for another because they are all dependent on each other.

[Anpu23]

The problems with a barter system are

-store of value: livestock gets old and dies, crops mold and rot, etc

- value is arbitrary: exactly how many chickens is a pig worth? Is my labor on your land worth a bushel of corn?

-Seasonal issues, the futures market was created so that farmers could sell their crops at the beginning of the season when they need seed, tools, and possibly land with a promise of delivery at the end of harvest. Under a barter system this gets much more complex as the farmer must pre-sell their goods for other goods that they then must trade for what they need. Money is a simple solution to this complexity.

-lastly as most people really don't understand money (if you don't believe me just ask people why the government doesn't just print more money if they are broke?) and what it is.

Money is a representation of goods and services. Remember you can only buy goods and services with other goods and services. There is no "magic dollar" and printing more money doesn't increase output it just dilutes the value of the representation. Any problems we see now, wouldn't go away with a barter system it would just increase complexity in trade.

[BoopBoopBeep]

Would help with overpopulation. Most people can't produce and have nothing to offer.

[OfMiceandMen]

Hehehe, never really left it. Been doing a trade for services for years.

[jamesgoldman]

A chunk of my business already is barter fed

Trading older gold for newer gold, big pieces to traders for more saleable little pieces, etc.

[LiamJHayden]

Just don't admit it or the IRS and your state will come looking for their "fair share."

[genericname85]

so how many bread rolls should i pay for a haircut?

[Whatthefluff]

Depends, what kind of style are you looking at

[genericname85]

i was just asking this as an example for how hard determining values is in a bartering system.

[Whatthefluff]

I think that’s beneficial. Both parties have to be willing to agree to a reasonable trade.

[SnowedIn]

There might some huge societal benefits to that.

[AngryCarl2]

No, just abolish fractional reserve banking.

[Anonymous]

That's one way to avoid taxes.

[Agape93]

Absolutely

[Anonymous]

You don't care.

[Whatthefluff]

Wym?

[OddBeMe]

Only if you want millions of people to die.

[msc545]

Of course not.

[In_Trance]

yes, we absolutely should

[SadyConfused1998]

Its coming

[CuriousMufuxka]

Return?