Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"There are two issues with bartering. One, it requires two matches to be made. You have to find someone who wants what you have to sell, and in turn, they have to have something that you want to buy. And secondly, it limits your choices, obviously, only to people who are bartering. So in normal times, bartering is not very popular. Now, bartering has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence, with money being very tight. Also, the Internet has helped it because there are sites now that are designed for people who want to barter. And so you can scan those sites and find much more quickly people who have things that you want to buy and who, in turn, want something you have to sell. So the Internet has certainly helped it. One thing that people need to keep in mind, though, is that bartering is not a way to escape taxes. You have to report the value of any economic gains that you have derived from bartering to the Internal Revenue Service. That has to be reported as income, and you will be taxed on it. So don't think that bartering is simply a way to escape income taxes."