Cash poor Americans turn to barter

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Economic hard times are pushing many in the United States to a barter system, trading work for favors or goods rather than cash, a business expert said.

Bartering "absolutely thrives in bad times," Johns Hopkins business professor Roger Staiger told USA Today.

After losing his electrician job on an oil rig early this month, Ron Giesler of Seabrook, Texas, said he was still working -- but he was accepting pay in the form of durable goods, such as laptops or computer parts.

Similarly, Christine Rietsche of Fridley, Minn., traded a portrait she drew for a Guitar Hero video game after her work hours were cut, the newspaper said.

The game helped her children enjoy Christmas, the newspaper reported.

Bartering has its Internet presence, too. Barter and trade Web site U-Exchange.com had 1.1 million viewers in a four-week stretch between January and February, three times the number it had in the same period a year ago, the report said.

CraigsList said bartering listings rose 100 percent January 2008 to January 2009.

. "If you're able to give somebody a service or good they're looking for, it saves both of you money that can go towards bills or food or gasoline," Rietsche said.