VOLOS, Greece — The first time he bought eggs, milk and jam at an outdoor market using not euros but an informal barter currency, Theodoros Mavridis, an unemployed electrician, was thrilled.
"With cash and clients in short supply, many are finding this new barter currency just might save them and their businesses from becoming another casualty of the economy," says Canterbury.
It combined a prisoner-of-war camp, a holding centre for Jews whom Himmler hoped to barter for foreign currency, and a camp for Jews the Nazis intended to exchange for Germans held by the Allies.
Dealing on the black market, subsistence, barter and foreign currency sent by friends and relatives abroad are most Zimbabweans' lifelines.In this section The Muslims and Christians of Jos Reaching rock bottom A promised withdrawal An old has-been to the rescue?
During the 1950s, when India was short of foreign currency, barter was a common means of exchange with overseas business partners.
Local currencies, barter markets and networks of co-operatives are slowly developing.
And organizing buying groceries together because they could get cheaper prices, setting up barters because the currency was worthless.
The head of one large American trading network reckons that the actual number was nearer $4 billion, after eliminating double-counting.Unlike real cash, the barter exchanges' quasi-currencies do not have governments standing behind them.
For people who find barter and local currencies a bit too complex, there are plenty of simpler options growing quickly, among them freecycling, freeganism and dumpster diving to reclaim useful items from the trash.
Part alternative currency, part barter system, part open-air market, the Volos network has grown exponentially in the past year, from 50 to 400 members.
Dealing on the black market, barter, subsistence and foreign currency sent by friends and relatives abroad are the lifelines for most Zimbabweans.Related items Zimbabwe: Misery and stalemateNov 20th 2008 Zimbabwe: Can the new deal work?Sep 18th 2008 Robert Mugabe: The man behind the fistMar 29th 2007For the first time in recent history Zimbabwe's security forces have started to voice their anger.
