THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

1960s: Development of large-scale professional barter by Western
corporations with the Comecon (‘Communist Bloc') countries.
1970’s: Extension of barter to Less Developed Countries whenever
‘hard currencies' are in scarce supply.
1974: In the US, 100 small barter exchanges facilitate trade valued at
$45 million among 17,000 corporations.
1980s: Generalisation of barter in international exchanges, as
consequence of the Latin American debt crisis.
1982: The VS Congress recognises barter as a legitimate domestic
commercial process, and sets up reporting requirements. All barter
income is treated as normal income by the IRS.
1990s: Expansion of barter within all developed countries. In
parallel, Internet commerce starts taking off. 1997: Alan Greenspan,
Chairman of the Federal Resave Board, gives implicit OK to
corporate currency initiatives: 'If we wish to foster financial
innovation, we must be careful not to impose rules that inhibit it.' The
cyber economy is estimated at $35.6 billion per year.
1998: In the VS no fewer than 400,000 businesses are members of
686 barter exchanges, totalling a volume of $8.5 billion in domestic
exchanges. Annual growth rate is 15%, three times faster than
commercial exchanges facilitated by dollars.
1999: Internet traffic doubles every 100 days. 2000: The cyber
economy reaches 5200 billion per year, about half of which is
between corporations. Barter business starts moving onto the Net,
and begins to merge with the cyber economy.