John fancies a cake, but he has no money. Poor John. What he does have is a bag of cherries. And he finds that the baker will trade one of his cakes for John’s cherries. The deal is done and both sides are happy. This is known as bartering.

Years ago, John and the baker would have pooled their goods in a tithe barn, a repository for local goods. Nowadays, swappers can stand in the street with their goods in one hand and a sign in the other or opt into something like a Local Exchange Trading System (Lets).

Let’s say that John’s cherries are worth 100 Lets. He can input his details into www.Letslinkuk.net and find that the baker has done the same with his cake. Swap done. It is that simple.

There are about 30 such schemes in London and about 450 nationwide.

There are thousands of Lets across the world, mainly in Australia, New Zealand, France and the US.

You earn Lets for goods or services. Even if your cupboard is bereft of cherries, you can mow a lawn, fix a television set or teach someone to play the trumpet in exchange for Lets, which are paid into an account to be spent on goods and services provided by other members of the group.

Members advertise goods and services in local Lets directories and get paid with a Lets cheque or computerised credit. And the system has no interest and no inflation.

And since no coin of the realm trades hands, the taxman is unlikely to get his hands on any part of it. For their part, a spokesperson for the Inland Revenue says: "Lets may represent 'emoluments'. There could be a tax charge based on second-hand value or the cost to the provider."

Note the word “could”. The man in the bowler hat wants to see how popular these barter systems turn out to be. And our bet is that once people see that they work, and that money can be saved, they will get involved.

And if the tax man comes calling, asking for this share, write to your local MP and tell him that you’re not making money – you’re rebuilding your local community that has been decimated by hypermarkets and the dreaded car.

That’ll make him think.

Via [Lets Link; Anorak]

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