Was barter the first form of currency?
Was barter the first form of currency?
- August 20, 2025
- Bill Maurer, anthropology, Arte, Aug. 20, 2025 (Video)
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[Translated from German] UC Irvine anthropologist Bill Maurer is convinced that the narrative of barter as the origin of money is fictional. Conceived by Enlightenment philosophers to explain the rise of capitalism, thinkers like Adam Smith thus created a myth that still resonates today and obscures our view that money could also be something entirely different.
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