financial crises forces california to face ..., page-21

If everybody bartered for all of their goods and services the government would not collect any tax. Hence, the government would not have the funds to build roads, hospitals, etc. Thus people whom barter and avoid tax are placing an extra burden on those whom do not barter and do pay tax on all their income. However, the bartering networks do not bother me as it is probably relatively small. If bartering networks get big enough to have their own pseudo currencies, then yes the govt should crack down on them.