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Bartering is the exchange of goods and services without the use of currency. Although bartering has been used in commercial and private transactions since ancient times, its appeal notably increased in the waning years of the 20th century. Surprisingly, bartering has proved on a worldwide basis to be not only a complement to sophisticated marketplace economies but also a means of survival in moribund economies. In the United States for instance the dollar value of bartered transactions grew at an annual rate of about 15 percent in the ten years following 1988. Conversely, in degraded economies such as Russia and its former republics bartering plays an important role in nearly 75 percent of the business transactions involving major companies. The term "countertrade" can be used synonymously with "barter" but "countertrade" most often describes international barter.

Barter...