A bartering bank operates with „calculation money“, which is only a virtual money, having no value of its own, since it consists of mere numbers. Barterbanks deliver virtual bank accounts and virtual credits to mediate between real bidders and real searchers, between supply and demand. Bidders tell the barterbank what products or services they are able to supply. Searchers tell their requests, what they need and demand. The barterbank gives credits to the suppliers, and records debts to the demanders, but both only virtually. The credits are positive bank accounts, the debts are negative accounts, but no real money is needed.
The barterbank's job is to search proper bidders, who can supply of what the searchers are demanding. The bank makes supply and demand cover mutually, thus credits and debts will cover as well.The essential task of the barterbank is to bring in third and more parties, in order to close barter-unions or „bartering circles“. A barter-circle becomes „closed“ when all searchers get what they need. First of all a supply with food, victuals and all other provisions needed for life must be secured, to achieve a collective subsistence. Only when a bartercircle is closed by proper bargains, real production and mutual exchange will start to operate according to the bargain.
This way a decentralized planned economy comes to existence. It can start without real money, so it can start with the poor and the unemployed. Money is replaced by the bargains, while the bargains cannot turn to money themselves, because they are bound to named and responsible persons or unions.The barterbank bridges over temporary or technical gaps by virtual credits. The bank will be knowing suppliers and demanders and can bring them together. Every supplier is also a demander of items in other fields, e.g. needing workers and raw material. Vice versa all demanders are suppliers in their field of activity. The main point is to close the circle of bartering. This is the idea of a barterbank.
A barterbank can start very small, being operated by a single person who is trusted and able to read, wright, calculate and to make bargains. In such a case the bank will bring together jobless workers with peasants who are missing hands and money. The peasants will lend some land they can't use to earn money, and will be paid by fruits or labour. The workers can raise their own food and in addition can help the farmer to partially get away from world market by raising local crops again, delivered to the local market. The more workers are nourished, the more work can be exchanged relying on bargains instead of money.
Once a bartercircle works it may be doubled in each circle of production and exchange. This way all proportions and bargains are already known, so everybody involved encourages another one to join up.On a bigger scale barterbanks can start with poor countries or regions lacking real money and credit. Taxes and insurances can get paid in labour, so communities need not interfere. Debts to the old monetary system can be paid later, when the collective subsistence achieves a surplus, so jobless workers can be supplied and procured.
