Would direct trading, like selling 2 Telivisions for a Computer be better than money?
This still includes a goverment, but the only diffrence is that there is no currency, just direct selling from one product to another.
Yes. Because...
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No. Because...
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We use money for a very specific reason: The limitations of barter. Here's an example: Let's say that I run a small farm, and I grow cabbages. My neighbor runs a farm, and he raises pigs. Another neighbor tans leather. Our other neighbor is a Vegan blacksmith. If I want some pork, leather, or maybe a new plow, I could trade cabbages in varying quantities for them. Assuming, of course, the cabbages are wanted. If the pig farmer wants cabbages or leather, he can trade pork to myself or the other neighbor. If he needs some blacksmith work done, though, he doesn't really have anything to offer the blacksmith. Similar situation for the tanner. Extend this to a larger community, and you end up having to make multiple trades with multiple people in order to get a desired good. Enter money- instead of trading pork for cabbages to trade to the blacksmith, the tanner can sell the pork at the market for money and use it to buy the blacksmiths services. This is just an example. The problem with a barter system is that both parties involved must have something the other wants, and in sufficient quantity to match the agreed upon value of the goods to be traded. No matter how much land and goods I have, if I don't have anything that the other wants, I can't trade without a third party, who of course will need to gain himself. Money is, functionally, a barter item that everybody has a supply of and everybody has a demand for. Side: No. Because...
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Eh, before money the governments just took their cut from actual goods. Or more realistically (in terms of pre-money feudal societies- also socialism) the people would produce goods for the government and be allowed to keep a portion of what they produced. Side: Yes. Because...
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