Anytime inflation devalues currency and makes it impossible to buy the things you need or want, bartering makes a comeback. For instance, after Katrina hit, people in affected areas began trading fuel, water, and food for the things they needed much more often than they would simply buy something, because paper money couldn’t feed, warm, or hydrate them or their families.

In Argentina, bank crises stopped allowing people to make withdrawals which led to the creation of as many as 800 barter clubs by some estimates in 2002. Each club had its own set of rules and created a system of credits that worked like currency within the club. The credits derived value in the same same way government currency does, and people were willing to accept them as payment because they believed they would be able to use them to buy the items they needed in return.

Bartering allows people to negotiate for the exact items they need in exchange for the items they have.