Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
1–10 of 54 posts
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#2This kind of feels like an opportunity to use bitcoin or another digital currency, doesn't it?
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#3“Greeks are aware there are devastating consequences of being in a single currency, like capital controls,”
Then they are aware of the wrong thing. Capital controls are not the issue. My guess is that without some form of control capitals would leave the country making things even worst. Of course they should get worst, capital control is BAD, but it serves a purpose. Bartering is working because people are trading existing assets. It won't work when it comes to buy those goods from other countries, which is the real issue Greece has. Greece could stop paying debts and use feta cheese as currency and it would be great, if they could produce all they need without imports. As a matter of fact, they can't, thus they have to deal with other countries, thus they have to produce things people want to buy and that's the issue - Greece does not produce enough stuff that people buy to cover its expenses.
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#4“Greeks are aware there are devastating consequences of being in a single currency, like capital controls,” Then they are aware of the wrong thing. Capital controls are not the issue. My guess is that without some form of control capitals would leave the country making things even worst. Of course they should get worst, capital control is BAD, but it serves a purpose. Bartering is working because people are trading e…
As long as the strong countries (e.g. Germany) control the value of Euro then countries like the size of Greece will be always in trouble. I am Greek and the biggest mistake that we made was to enter the Eurozone. Euro is good only for very strong countries, but even those countries can have problems sometimes. A very good example is Finland and Sweden. The former has problems because of Euro but the latter thrives because they control their currency.
And Greece may not produce cars for example, but our agriculture is strong. Because of the globalization though every country nowadays relies on other countries. See for example Iran's problems because of the sanctions. Iran is huge compare to Greece and they don't even have to import gas, but their economy on the other hand is weak.
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#5This kind of feels like an opportunity to use bitcoin or another digital currency, doesn't it?
Bitcoin has too high a barrier to entry for normal people, especially impoverished citizens of Greece.
Attempts were made with Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) which from the sound of it were adhoc swap meets / bartering exchanges which would peg an alternate currency unit [ (Greek: Τοπική Εναλλακτική Μονάδα ("Alternative Monetary Unit"); abbrv: TEM ] to the Euro and in some cases debt was accepted between individuals.
TLDR; a ledger/local credit card system might be useful for these communities.. BTC would not help because none of these people could be expected to mine or purchase the coins to begin with.
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#6This kind of feels like an opportunity to use bitcoin or another digital currency, doesn't it?
Bitcoin has too high a barrier to entry for normal people, especially impoverished citizens of Greece. Attempts were made with Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) which from the sound of it were adhoc swap meets / bartering exchanges which would peg an alternate currency unit [ (Greek: Τοπική Εναλλακτική Μονάδα ("Alternative Monetary Unit"); abbrv: TEM ] to the Euro and in some cases debt was accepted between indiv…
Hmmm. I was gonna call BS on poor greeks not having computers, but http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/07/15/one-in-three-gree...
That's fair, a ledger system would be more helpful here. But for BTC it's not a matter of them needing to mine or purchase bitcoin with money. You just need to bring in a couple people who already have bitcoin and then you buy bitcoin for your meat or tires. Once you have bitcoin, it's possible to turn that into USD in accounts that are external greece, or into another hard currency via that BTC-meetup website.
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#7So, when stocking my bunker, what should I put in there that will have high barter potential?
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#8So, when stocking my bunker, what should I put in there that will have high barter potential?
Something with high utility. Tools are the first thing that come to mind. Storage containers like water jugs and backpacks? Warm clothing? Weapons for sure.
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#9So, when stocking my bunker, what should I put in there that will have high barter potential?
Laundry detergent might be good to stock.
> Law enforcement officials across the country are puzzled over a crime wave targeting an unlikely item: Tide laundry detergent.
> The obvious question — why? — has a pretty simple answer. Tide is recognizable, easy to steal, hard to track, and can be re-sold for $5 to $10 a bottle.
Besides, its shelf-stable.
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/03/12/148448368/peopl...
Re: Trading Meat for Tires as Bartering Economy Grows in Greece
#10“Greeks are aware there are devastating consequences of being in a single currency, like capital controls,” Then they are aware of the wrong thing. Capital controls are not the issue. My guess is that without some form of control capitals would leave the country making things even worst. Of course they should get worst, capital control is BAD, but it serves a purpose. Bartering is working because people are trading e…
As long as the strong countries (e.g. Germany) control the value of Euro then countries like the size of Greece will be always in trouble. I am Greek and the biggest mistake that we made was to enter the Eurozone. Euro is good only for very strong countries, but even those countries can have problems sometimes. A very good example is Finland and Sweden. The former has problems because of Euro but the latter thrives b…
"A very good example is Finland and Sweden. The former has problems because of Euro but the latter thrives because they control their currency."
There are several reasons for this - many of which are likely more important than the Euro - such as Finland having relied mainly on the declining paper industry and Nokia for exports while Swedish exports are more diverse.