barter economy

Business is booming in the barter economy. On craigslist, requests for bartered goods and services were up 125 percent in the past year, making it one of the site's most popular categories…

With trust in the world’s currency at an all-time low, bartering has reemerged as a possible solution to the credit crunch.

All but forgotten, bartering predates any modern form of currency, and arose naturally in the ancient world as the primary means of economic exchange.