[btbuildem]

Barter economy is a myth. If you think that's wrong, do a mental exercise -- try to imagine how that would work in practice.

We never, as a species, had any meaningful instance of barter economies. We've had the concept of debt since before we had currency. I imagine this is what we would try to "return" to if cash disappeared, and people needed to exchange goods and services without authorities and intermediaries. This would though require a community, a social fabric -- something that has been steadily eroding for a long, long time.