Debunking The Myth of the Barter Economy - by Max Murphy

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Your high school economics teacher lied to you. Yes, you. Inevitably, you learned about something called the barter economy, a theoretical economic system where John Smith takes his five bushels of wheat, goes down to the market, and barters them for a new cow. We were told that goods and services were traded directly. without any money.

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Of course, the problem is that this is a giant pain in the ass. Imagine doing this today. You go down to Walmart and you're like, hey, I need 120 pizza rolls and three big bottles of sody pop. You pull out your most prized possessions, those 17 self-portraits, bam!

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You slam them on the counter and you're like, we got a deal or what? That poor guy is just gonna give you a really, really uncomfortable look. Listen, the painting's actually pretty good, but you are one ugly, ugly duckling. I'm sorry. No deal. And then that guy's gonna call security.

Debunking The Myth of the Barter Economy

How Adam Smith Fooled Everyone with a Thought Experiment

Oct 10, 2024

The barter economy is a myth that never happened. You won't believe what actually happened.

Discussion about this video

I still think about this video essay every now and then. Couldn't remember what/where/when/who (sorry🥺) when I was talking to my dad about it cos I wanted to show it to him. So interesting, and when you think about it, makes so much sense. He totally agreed without seeing it cos you know, couldn't remember what/where/when/who 🫣 gotta love a bit of adhd ain't ya, plus I been binge watching xena, warrior princess and dreaming about pho, so had a lot going on! Also, FYI, I managed to watch all of it 🥳

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You slam them on the counter and you're like, we got a deal or what? That poor guy is just gonna give you a really, really uncomfortable look. Listen, the painting's actually pretty good, but you are one ugly, ugly duckling. I'm sorry. No deal. And then that guy's gonna call security.