From ekathimerini:
As a computer specialist who can fix your PC, Vassilis Revelas has a valuable skill. In Greece's economic crisis, he's found a new way of using its value - without a single euro changing hands.HT: the (almost) essential Debt Crisis Live-blog at the Telegraph.
Like hundreds of others in Greece, where incomes have plunged in four years of recession, he uses the time bank - an online exchange where members swap services, counting the cost not in euros, but in hours.
“I racked up about 10 hours of work by fixing people's computers,” says Vassilis.
“In return I've had an electrician come to help with my phone line, I've had someone do my hair, I had someone help me move house and I also had Spanish lessons,” he told AFP.
Time-banking and other forms of bartering are on the rise in Greece and other crisis-hit countries such as Spain, as people come to grips with lower salaries, pensions and job prospects....MORE
