The Nick Rowe debates

But it is precisely because money is part of the solution, and a very important part of the solution to a very real problem, that when something goes wrong with money, the solution falls apart.

This is the claim.

I make the counterclaim, when things go bad we really go back to a form of barter. Look at GM in its bankruptcy. What was the issue? How much oil will one GM car trade for, MPG was the issue, a barter. The issue of deciding which investment house to save and which to drop, the Fed bartered with investment bankers and Treasury officials. Consider pension payments by my county government. The most quoted value is the ratio of pension payments to current operation, a ratio measure in proportion units,a barter. Bartering in the high tech industry is quite common, companies splitting the pie according the real deliverables, not money.
Looking for a job?  The barter become commute times, housing availability,  skill match, and salary likely comes in about third.

Money comes into play once the bartering pattern is established, we then use money to put the bartering on autopilot.  Money, as a medium of exchange, is highly over rated.