MBE-Barter vs Bail-Outs

The New Year has started with much 'hoop-la' and fanfare. The Presidential inauguration is past. Out with the old and in with the new. But what has changed?

Our 44th President, Barack Obama, has not only made history as our country's first black President, but he's probably taken office in the most turbulent of times. Even before he took office - whilst smiling and waving on his campaign trail - we were still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, our Social Security was in dire straits, the economy was nose-diving in lesser hands than Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, and nobody would have dreamed that Washington would have athorized 'Billion dollar' bail-outs. The new President has his work cut out.

Some people talk about "Obama-nomics". The smart folks are talking about solutions and MBE-Barter-nomics.

"Barter?" I hear you cry, "Isn't that old hat?" Not so, and no laughing matter these days. Once considered the 'ugly, second cousin' that you hid in your back room when guests came to dinner, barter - the first economy - is making a huge comeback. And barter isn't just a listing on Craigslist for your unwanted junk and brick-a-brac, or an online 'yardsale' like many of these new sites sprouting up like opportunistic, ugly weeds. MBE-barter has been bringing hope and much-needed cash flow to thousands of American businesses since 2000.

And what about "Joe the Plumber"? The popular post-em-up man during the Presidential campaign that represented the backbone of the US economy, "Mr Main Street" (the folks that are ultimately going to pay the taxes to repay these Trillions of dollars of bail-outs. What of the small business owner?

Political personalities and candidates historically say and do whatever they have to to make it to office. Once in office, the truth is often stranger than the fiction they sew whilst campaigning. There seems to be no useful solutions coming from our leadership except, "Just print more money!" And the inflationary impact of this policy will be announced when, exactly? As timely as the - year late - announcement that we are in a recession?

With less than 40% of our population actually paying any taxes at all, where exactly does that leave the burden (once again) to bail out everybody? Ah, back to our buddy Joe and his chums on Main Street. Thank God, then, for Merchants Barter Exchange and all the good things they are doing for multiple small and medium sized business owners around the US. Bartering is back and is going to continue to grow at an alarming rate - possibly as fast, if not faster, than the Federal Reserve can print their own 'barter' bank notes.

Can MBE-Barter do anything to stop the insanity? It's a good question, but difficult to answer. With the right promotion, support and implementation it is very likely that it can make a very positive impact on our economy. What it cannot do, though, is make unproductive industries more efficient (not pointing fingers specifically at the car market, the traditional lending market is just as wanton.) It cannot also wave a magic wand and make the age-old problems of healthcare, social security, and goverment over-spending go away either. What it can do, however, is to continue to do what it does best, namely to assist those business owners smart enough to participate in the MBE-system to trade out their surplus (time, inventory or capacity) at the same price as cash, 100% on a barter basis, and keep more cash in their businesses for their necessities - like paying their taxes to cover the bail-out expense!

This was meant as a slight 'tongue-in-cheek' critique, however, there is much truth in the above. What is really important here is that Obama needs to act and impliment something radical, real, and rapid that will actually make a difference. "Talk is cheap" so they say, but at close to a Trillion Dollars, cheap is getting a whole knew definition in my book. For a fraction of the cost - if in fact any at all - Obama could roll out MBE-Barter-Nomics and make significant forward strides to set America back in the pole position of the leading and strongest economy in the world, which is afterall where we belong.

I hope you enjoyed reading. I look forward to your comments. If you're really interested in being a participant and not just an idle spectator, read this marketing site: http://www.barterfranchise.com

Together there really is HOPE. Alone, there is no hope of CHANGE.