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Barter Society Emerges In Greece As Crisis Deepens *Video* Mac Slavo October 29th, 2011 As the Greek economy succumbs to the debt crisis and individual Greeks are made poorer each day through austerity measures and job cuts, many have begun resorting to traditional bartering as a way to make ends meet and at the same time increase their involvement with neighbors and their general community. Services being bartered include anything from language classes and babysitting to hand cooked meals and daily labor. It’s huge. Everything we do is without money, like looking after people or making food by ourselves. …We...

It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies. But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped. "It's all about exchange and solidarity, helping one another out in these very hard times," enthused Ioanitou, her...

In Greece, the age-old practice of bartering for goods and services is experiencing a renaissance as the nation endures the sixth year of its debt-driven economic meltdown. And as bartering has come to mean the difference between starvation and survival for some Greeks, Americans ought to take note. The New York Times on Monday explained how virtual barter networks are popping up in Greece to help individuals and small businesses in the nation survive harsh capital controls put in place to combat a long-standing liquidity crisis. Earlier this year, many Greeks found themselves unable to withdraw money from banks for...