Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

[swgprop]

Black market surge due to white market failure?

Countries struggling to secure credit have resorted to barter and secretive government-to-government deals to buy food, with some contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a striking example of how the global financial crisis and high food prices have strained the finances of poor and middle-income nations, countries including Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Morocco say they have signed or are discussing inter-government and barter deals to import commodities from rice to vegetable oil.

The revival of these trade practices, used rarely in the last 20 years and usually by nations subject to international embargoes and the old communist bloc, is a result of the countries’ failure to secure trade financing as bank lending has dried up.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e5c633c-e...nclick_check=1

[touchring]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

at least they got stuff to barter, what about nations that only produce financial goods?

[GRG55]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

at least they got stuff to barter, what about nations that only produce financial goods?

New motto?

"Will work for food"?

[don]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

I could really use a couple of your wooden spoons.
What can I offer?
Ever hear of the Madooff Fund?

[don]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

Will Trade Art For Classes

Faced with a decline in their operating budget and a shrinking endowment, the trustees of Brandeis University voted unanimously on Monday to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its collection to help shore up the university’s finances.

The museum, founded in 1961, holds more than 8,000 pieces. It is best known for its collection of modern art, including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein.

“These are extraordinary times,” Jehuda Reinharz, the president of Brandeis, said in a statement. “We cannot control or fix the nation’s economic problems. We can only do what we have been entrusted to do: act responsibly with the best interests of our students and their futures foremost in mind.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/us...randeis&st=cse

[Slimprofits]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

I could really use a couple of your wooden spoons.
What can I offer?
Ever hear of the Madooff Fund?

Now that is funny.

[touchring]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

New motto?

"Will work for food"?

today's world, labor is cheap, and there's plentiful in india and china. if your country only produces labor, then the average wage will not exceed $1 per hr.

[sunskyfan]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

If you work with your brains and you are wrong, as the guys on Wall Street have been big time, your wage does not exceed $0 per hr. UNLESS someone is stupid enough to give you money like the FED or the Treasury.

The photo comentary above is priceless!

[GRG55]

Re: Nations turn to barter deals to secure food

Will Trade Art For Classes

Faced with a decline in their operating budget and a shrinking endowment, the trustees of Brandeis University voted unanimously on Monday to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its collection to help shore up the university’s finances.

The museum, founded in 1961, holds more than 8,000 pieces. It is best known for its collection of modern art, including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein.

“These are extraordinary times,” Jehuda Reinharz, the president of Brandeis, said in a statement. “We cannot control or fix the nation’s economic problems. We can only do what we have been entrusted to do: act responsibly with the best interests of our students and their futures foremost in mind.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/us...randeis&st=cse

Gawd forbid that they actually figure out how to do more with less, or tighten their belts in any way [maybe Spam for luncheon in the faculty club?].

Instead what they probably considered an "irreplaceable asset" when prices were inflated, is now to be sold off into a falling market which will undoubtedly depress it further.

Brilliant.