When barter has appeared, it wasn’t as part of a purely barter economy, and money didn’t emerge from it—rather, it emerged from money. After Rome fell, for instance, ...

The barter economy behind major art museums. The Louvre spent 10 years negotiating with other museums to mount the largest Leonardo da Vinci exhibit ever. Here’s a look inside the process.

Continuous inflation or deflation left unchecked can wound the economy. While deflation can drive down prices, which is good, profits and wages may also suffer and repaying debt becomes expensive.

Bartering may seem like a thing of the past, but some countries practice it. Barter trade is one of the oldest forms of commerce, where people exchange goods or services directly without using money.