As I have pointed out many times in the past, barter markets are inevitable in an imploding financial market. The problem is that the general public always waits until AFTER they are in the midst of crisis before they embrace decentralized trade. This is a foolish strategy when the fact of oncoming collapse is so obvious. In America, we must do things differently, especially while this country is the most vulnerable to the coming catastrophe...
It's 10:30 on a chilly winter's morning in central Madrid and retailer Emanuela Scena is opening up for business.
Her shop is one of several offering second-hand goods that have sprung up in Spain's capital during the economic crisis and is packed to the rafters with clothes, books, CDs and electrical equipment.
But unlike the others, it doesn't take cash. It's part of a barter economy in goods and services that is gaining ground as the country tips into recession and already sky-high unemployment rates inch up.
Finding different ways of generating business has also inspired stores in two towns to start accepting the peseta again, encouraging customers more than a hour's drive away to root through cupboards and drawers for a currency they thought they'd surrendered for good in 2002.
"When we started (in December 2010), Spain was already in crisis. At first people didn't like the fact that everything we were exchanging was second-hand, but now they understand," Scena said.
'Abrete Sesamo' (Open Sesame) - "we liked the idea of a name suggesting Ali Baba's cave of treasures" - now gets up to 20 customers a day swapping goods for points they earn by bringing in items of their own and paying a small subscription fee.
People can also buy points just with euros, "but they're more expensive that way because we want to encourage bartering."
READ MORE HERE:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/20/us-spain-barter-idUSTRE81J0NJ20120220
