Progress

[Peter Gibbons]

First there was barter.

Then there was gold, silver and copper.

Then came paper and fractional reserve banking.

Now we are using plastic and paying 4% extra just for the convenience.

After couple of generations people will have RFID chips implanted in their butts and laugh about us being so primitive to carry little pieces of paper and plastic around.

There is already stigma associated with paper - you must be a drug dealer or tax cheater if you prefer to deal in cash. In the cradle of the Western civilization - Greece - it's now illegal to have cash transactions over 1500 Euros.

Plastic will be next ...

[/rant]

[David Randolph]

It works just like it did back in the open air market: you barter with the shoe maker till both of you agree how many Kugerands he will take for that new pair of wooden shoes. Over time, most people will know what to expect and will enjoy the give and take of bartering for everything. "One pinch of gold dust for a shot of whisky." Fixed prices only exist when there is a common currency AND there is a way to check up on employees who are running the cash register. Entrepreneurship in an age of barter rarely has to worry about detailed accounting - however, they do need to worry about the tax man as they don't have many ways to prevent the tax man from taking too much.