69-460: A local exchange trading system (also local employment and trading system or local energy transfer system ; abbreviated LETS ) is a locally initiated, democratically organised, not-for-profit community enterprise that provides a community information service and records transactions of members exchanging goods and services by using locally created currency. LETS allow people to negotiate the value of their own hours or services, and to keep wealth in
138-475: A broker and bank in which each participating member has an account that is debited when purchases are made, and credited when sales are made. Modern barter and trade has evolved considerably to become an effective method of increasing sales, conserving cash, moving inventory, and making use of excess production capacity for businesses around the world. Businesses in a barter earn trade credits (instead of cash) that are deposited into their account. They then have
207-422: A medium of exchange , such as money . Economists usually distinguish barter from gift economies in many ways; barter, for example, features immediate reciprocal exchange , not one delayed in time. Barter usually takes place on a bilateral basis, but may be multilateral (if it is mediated through a trade exchange ). In most developed countries , barter usually exists parallel to monetary systems only to
276-503: A LETSystems Training Pack, and assistance to Michael Linton to visit Western Australia . By 1995 there were 250 LETSystems in Australia, with Western Australia having 43 separate systems serving a population of 2.3 million (although actual participation is by only a tiny fraction of that population), making it then the region with the highest LETS coverage in the world. From around 2007, many Australian LETS groups started trading online using
345-666: A barter exchange. Several major cities in the U.S. and Canada do not currently have a local barter exchange . There are two industry groups in the United States, the National Association of Trade Exchanges (NATE) and the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA). Both offer training and promote high ethical standards among their members. Moreover, each has created its own currency through which its member barter companies can trade. NATE's currency
414-573: A business. In countries like Australia and New Zealand, barter transactions require the appropriate tax invoices declaring the value of the transaction and its reciprocal GST component. All records of barter transactions must also be kept for a minimum of five years after the transaction is made. In Spain (particularly the Catalonia region) there is a growing number of exchange markets. These barter markets or swap meets work without money. Participants bring things they do not need and exchange them for
483-405: A different kind. The parties of the barter transaction are both equal and free. The transaction happens simultaneously. The transaction is transformative. There is no criterion of value. Since direct barter does not require payment in money, it can be utilized when money is in short supply, when there is little information about the credit worthiness of trade partners, or when there
552-479: A directory of offers and needs and by allowing a line of interest -free credit to each. Members' IOUs are logged in a centralised accounting system which publishes a directory as well as balances visible to all members. In case of a default, the loss of value or units is absorbed equally by all members, which makes it a mutual credit exchange. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in
621-546: A form of political protest. After flourishing in the 1990s, the LETS movement waned. Interest in local currency moved on to other designs such as time-based currency and dollar-backed local voucher schemes. On the whole, the movement was slow to adapt to the internet and to the possibility of networking together. Reluctance to engage with technology, a belief in decentralisation/localisation and lack of funds all contributed to this. Examples of LETS networks based on free software are
690-402: A hub to exchange goods and services without money as a medium of exchange. Similarly to brokerage houses, barter company facilitates the exchange of goods and services between member companies, allowing members to acquire goods and services by providing their own as payment. Member companies are required to sign a barter agreement with the barter company as a condition of their membership. In turn,
759-420: A massive scale. BarterMachine is an Ethereum smart contract based system that allows direct exchange of multiple types and quantities of tokens with others. It also provides a solution miner that allows users to compute direct bartering solutions in their browsers. Bartering solutions can be submitted to BarterMachine which will perform collective transfer of tokens among the blockchain addresses that belong to
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#1732856003758828-436: A period where paper currency was an innovation. Paper currency was an IOU circulated by a bank (a promise to pay, not a payment in itself). Both merchants and an unstable paper currency created difficulties for direct producers. An alternate currency, denominated in labour time, would prevent profit taking by middlemen; all goods exchanged would be priced only in terms of the amount of labour that went into them as expressed in
897-588: A similar labour note. The British Association for Promoting Cooperative Knowledge established an "equitable labour exchange" in 1830. This was expanded as the National Equitable Labour Exchange in 1832 on Grays Inn Road in London. These efforts became the basis of the British cooperative movement of the 1840s. In 1848, the socialist and first self-designated anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon postulated
966-535: A system of time chits . Michael Linton this originated the term "local exchange trading system" ( LETS ) in 1983 and for a time ran the Comox Valley LETSystems in Courtenay, British Columbia . LETS networks use interest -free local credit so direct swaps do not need to be made. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in
1035-416: A telephone, an answering machine and a notebook. Since then, there have been several attempts to improve the process with software, printed notes, and other familiar aspects of traditional currencies. LETS is a full-fledged monetary or exchange system, unlike direct barter . LETS members are able to earn credits from any member and spend them with anyone else on the scheme. Since the details are worked out by
1104-453: A unit of account (i.e. used to price items). All of these strategies are found in ancient economies including Ptolemaic Egypt. They are also the basis for more recent barter exchange systems. While one-to-one bartering is practised between individuals and businesses on an informal basis, organized barter exchanges have developed to conduct third party bartering which helps overcome some of the limitations of barter. A barter exchange operates as
1173-522: A very limited extent. Market actors use barter as a replacement for money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis , such as when currency becomes unstable (such as hyperinflation or a deflationary spiral ) or simply unavailable for conducting commerce . No ethnographic studies have shown that any present or past society has used barter without any other medium of exchange or measurement, and anthropologists have found no evidence that money emerged from barter. Nevertheless, economists since
1242-857: Is a CES in Hungary that is present in some of the major cities. In the Netherlands, there are approximately 55 LETS communities in 2024. As of March 2019, there were many active communities in the region being hosted on the CES global server: Argentina had 11; Brazil 14; Bolivia 1; Chile 9; Colombia 13; Costa Rica 3; Curaçao 1; Dominican Republic 2; Ecuador 3; Guatemala 1; Nicaragua 1; Paraguay 1; Peru 3; Puerto Rico 2; Sint Maarten 1; Trinidad and Tobago 2; Turks and Caicos Islands 1; Uruguay 3; US Virgin Islands 1; Venezuela 3. Time-based currency Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1311-484: Is a difficult way of conducting trade, it will occur only where there are strong institutional constraints on the use of money or where the barter symbolically denotes a special social relationship and is used in well-defined conditions. To sum up, multipurpose money in markets is like lubrication for machines - necessary for the most efficient function, but not necessary for the existence of the market itself." In his analysis of barter between coastal and inland villages in
1380-445: Is a lack of trust between those trading. Barter is an option to those who cannot afford to store their small supply of wealth in money, especially in hyperinflation situations where money devalues quickly. The limitations of barter are often explained in terms of its inefficiencies in facilitating exchange in comparison to money. It is said that barter is 'inefficient' because: Other anthropologists have questioned whether barter
1449-457: Is almost always between strangers." Barter occurred between strangers, not fellow villagers, and hence cannot be used to naturalistically explain the origin of money without the state. Since most people engaged in trade knew each other, exchange was fostered through the extension of credit. Marcel Mauss, author of ' The Gift ', argued that the first economic contracts were to not act in one's economic self-interest, and that before money, exchange
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#17328560037581518-462: Is circulation." While LETS members could decide individually to change the way they value money and life and develop new codes and live by them to a large degree, they were restricted in their ability to sustain this utopia . LETS have limited resources, so when they need mainstream resources, they might be unable to transfer their codes through their network. Local exchange trading systems now exist in many countries. Currency exchange between countries
1587-580: Is done automatically through the CES or a similar network. In 2003, the original CES was founded as internet-based LETS in Cape Town , South Africa. By 2011 it had grown into a global network spanning 99 countries. As of March 2019 the following African countries had active communities linked in to the CES network: Botswana 2; Cameroon 1; Ethiopia 1; Kenya 2; Lesotho 2; Liberia 1; Madagascar 1; Namibia 2; Nigeria 2; South Africa 62; Swaziland 1; Uganda 1; Zambia 2; Zimbabwe 2. In Japan ,
1656-507: Is known as the BANC and IRTA's currency is called Universal Currency (UC). In Canada, barter continues to thrive. The largest b2b barter exchange is International Monetary Systems (IMS Barter), founded in 1985. P2P bartering has seen a renaissance in major Canadian cities through Bunz - built as a network of Facebook groups that went on to become a stand-alone bartering based app in January 2016. Within
1725-561: Is the origin of money according to Smith. Money, as a universally desired medium of exchange, allows each half of the transaction to be separated. Barter is characterized in Adam Smith's " The Wealth of Nations " by a disparaging vocabulary: "haggling, swapping, dickering". It has also been characterized as negative reciprocity, or "selfish profiteering". Anthropologists such as David Graeber have argued, in contrast, "that when something resembling barter does occur in stateless societies it
1794-442: Is to stimulate the economies of economically depressed towns that have goods and services, but little official currency: the LETS scheme does not require outside sources of income as stimulus. The environmental benefits of enhanced locals' self-reliance involve less-distance transport (as local goods are substituted for imports) and more evident environmental effects. Moreover, diverse local economies support sustainability by decreasing
1863-508: Is typically between "total" strangers, a form of barter known as "silent trade". Silent trade, also called silent barter, dumb barter ("dumb" here used in its old meaning of "mute"), or depot trade, is a method by which traders who cannot speak each other's language can trade without talking. However, Benjamin Orlove has shown that while barter occurs through "silent trade" (between strangers), it occurs in commercial markets as well. "Because barter
1932-570: The Fureai kippu (in Japanese ふれあい切符: Caring Relationship Tickets) is a Japanese sectoral currency created in 1995 by the Sawayaka Welfare Foundation so that people could earn credits helping seniors in their community . The Government of Australia , in 1989, allocated AU$ 50,000 for the development of LETSystems, including the running of state conferences, the production of software,
2001-506: The Cape Town -based Community Exchange System (CES), which as of March 2019 links to the Geneva -based Community Forge and Spanish IntegralCES. Internet Exchange Trading System was established in 1998 as an idea to spread local exchange tradings systems online and establish a service exchange online platform. It didn't reach critical mass of users and the idea was later abandoned. LETS networks facilitate exchange between members by providing
2070-557: The Community Exchange System . This system allows new members to sign up directly, list offers and wants, and enter trades without assistance from the administrator. By 2011 Australia had become the most active country on the Community Exchange System , prompting Tim Jenkin and Annette Loudon to set up the Australian Community Exchange System. As of March 2019 there were 31 communities using CES. In
2139-760: The Czech Republic , there are multiple LETS. Rozleťse , operating in the region of city of Brno sharing the same Cyclos3 server with other smaller groups in the regions of Jeseník, Ostrava and Beskydy. The capital, Prague , uses Pralets. In Germany , CES has 11 German communities on its network. In Switzerland an adaption of LETS, the Talent, was established and quite successfully launched in 1992. This spread out in Europe and spawned many other Talent-Groups in other countries. The United Kingdom has many LETS systems, many loosely affiliated to LETSLINK UK and some operating under
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2208-615: The IRS to seize his wages and as a form of tax resistance . Hess explained how he turned to barter in an op-ed for The New York Times in 1975. However the IRS now requires barter exchanges to be reported as per the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 . Barter exchanges are considered taxable revenue by the IRS and must be reported on a 1099-B form. According to the IRS, "The fair market value of goods and services exchanged must be included in
2277-480: The Trobriand Islands , Keith Hart highlighted the difference between highly ceremonial gift exchange between community leaders, and the barter that occurs between individual households. The haggling that takes place between strangers is possible because of the larger temporary political order established by the gift exchanges of leaders. From this, he concludes that barter is "an atomized interaction predicated upon
2346-478: The University of Victoria undertook to research his archives as a demonstration of how people react to new ideas that are outside the norms of society. Linton thought that he had failed to communicate his idea adequately. LETS is a new type of money which makes it easy to pursue new Livelihood without the previous wholesale transformation of Capitalism . It is thus regarded as an alternative currency movement, and as
2415-485: The income of both parties." Other countries, though, do not have the reporting requirement that the U.S. does concerning proceeds from barter transactions, but taxation is handled the same way as a cash transaction. If one barters for a profit , one pays the appropriate tax; if one generates a loss in the transaction, they have a loss. Bartering for business is also taxed accordingly as business income or business expense. Many barter exchanges require that one register as
2484-419: The 21st century, the internet-based networks have been used to link individual LETS systems, into national or global networks. Michael Linton may have originated the term "local exchange trading system" in 1983, for a time running the Comox Valley LETSystems in Courtenay, British Columbia . The system he designed was intended as an adjunct to the national currency , rather than a replacement for it. He called
2553-516: The CES system, such as North London LETS. In the UK Skillsbox operates an online community system similar to LETS, letting users trade their skills and time for credits which can be spent within the online community. The Flemish part of Belgium has many LETS groups. There is a non profit organization promoting LETS: Lets Vlaanderen vzw. They assist the local groups in starting up, they organize events, they share knowledge. The Suska Kör (Suska Circle)
2622-540: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 796080694 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 04:53:23 GMT Barter (economics) In trade , barter (derived from baretor ) is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using
2691-402: The ability to purchase goods and services from other members utilizing their trade credits – they are not obligated to purchase from those whom they sold to, and vice versa. The exchange plays an important role because they provide the record-keeping, brokering expertise and monthly statements to each member. Commercial exchanges make money by charging a commission on each transaction either all on
2760-415: The barter company provides each member with the current levels of supply and demand for each good and service which can be purchased or sold in the system. These transactions are mediated by barter authorities of the member companies. The barter member companies can then acquire their desired goods or services from another member company within a predetermined time. Failure to deliver the good or service within
2829-536: The buy side, all on the sell side, or a combination of both. Transaction fees typically run between 8 and 15%. A successful example is International Monetary Systems , which was founded in 1985 and is one of the first exchanges in North America opened after the TEFRA Act of 1982. Since the 1930s, organized barter has been a common type of barter where company's join a barter organization (barter company) which serves as
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2898-401: The capitalist. To counteract the uneven playing field between employers and employed, they proposed "schemes of labour notes based on labour time, thus institutionalizing Owen's demand that human labour, not money, be made the standard of value." This alternate currency eliminated price variability between markets, as well as the role of merchants who bought low and sold high. The system arose in
2967-491: The currency "green dollars" and it was mostly used by a local dentist, but dwindled when he moved away. Linton started at least four more versions, with varying degrees of success, such as the "Community Way Dollars" in 2008. The system's turnover in the first two years amounted to green $ 500,000. There were 5 LETS in Great Britain in 1992. In 1995 this number increased to 350 with 30,000 membership and 2 million turnover. In 2018
3036-527: The division of labour, by which individuals began to specialize in specific crafts and hence had to depend on others for subsistence goods. These goods were first exchanged by barter. Specialization depended on trade but was hindered by the " double coincidence of wants " which barter requires, i.e., for the exchange to occur, each participant must want what the other has. To complete this hypothetical history, craftsmen would stockpile one particular good, be it salt or metal, that they thought no one would refuse. This
3105-465: The first year, Bunz accumulated over 75,000 users in over 200 cities worldwide. Corporate barter focuses on larger transactions, which is different from a traditional, retail oriented barter exchange. Corporate barter exchanges typically use media and advertising as leverage for their larger transactions. It entails the use of a currency unit called a "trade-credit". The trade-credit must not only be known and guaranteed but also be valued in an amount
3174-487: The fixed time period results in the debt being settled in cash. Each member company pays an annual membership fee and purchase and sales commission outlined in the contract. Organized barter increases liquidity for member companies as it mitigates the requirement of cash to settle transactions, enabling sales and purchases to be made with excess capacity or surplus inventory. Additionally, organized barter facilitates competitive advantage within industries and sectors. Considering
3243-419: The formal market economy, they disengage from it by establishing small, cooperative exchange enclaves in which trust and intimacy relationships are cultivated. And it also means that there is a small range of services available. LETS members must be economically involved outside to meet their needs. LETS also does not effect a 'return' to bartering or the abolition of property. "LETS currency only has value when it
3312-513: The imbalance of supply and demand of desired goods and services and the inability to efficiently match the value of goods and services exchanged in these transactions. The Owenite socialists in Britain and the United States in the 1830s were the first to attempt to organize barter exchanges. Owenism developed a "theory of equitable exchange" as a critique of the exploitative wage relationship between capitalist and labourer, by which all profit accrued to
3381-433: The industry trade body, more than 450,000 businesses transacted $ 10 billion globally in 2008 – and officials expect trade volume to grow by 15% in 2009. It is estimated that over 450,000 businesses in the United States were involved in barter exchange activities in 2010. There are approximately 400 commercial and corporate barter companies serving all parts of the world. There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to start
3450-418: The locality where it is created. Similar trading systems around the world are also known as Community Exchange Systems , Mutual Credit trading systems , Clearing Circles , Trade Exchanges or Time Banks . These all use 'metric currencies' – currencies that measure , as opposed to the fiat currencies used in conventional value exchange. These are all a type of alternative or complementary currency. In
3519-464: The mainstream economy." Michael Linton has stated that such systems are "personal money" networks rather than LETS. A list of services offered by network members is put together to create a LETS scheme, and trading takes place between members using a local currency. The LETS foundation is a virtual currency, a check book, a directory as well as a transparent accounting system built on trust and community regulation. The first LETS required nothing more than
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#17328560037583588-625: The maxim ' Cost the limit of price '. It became the basis of exchanges in London, and in America, where the idea was implemented at the New Harmony communal settlement by Josiah Warren in 1826, and in his Cincinnati 'Time store' in 1827. Warren ideas were adopted by other Owenites and currency reformers, even though the labour exchanges were relatively short lived. In England, about 30 to 40 cooperative societies sent their surplus goods to an "exchange bazaar" for direct barter in London, which later adopted
3657-603: The means of exchange. Barter may also occur when people cannot afford to keep money (as when hyperinflation quickly devalues it). An example of this would be during the Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela , when Venezuelans resorted to bartering as a result of hyperinflation. The increasingly low value of bank notes, and their lack of circulation in suburban areas, meant that many Venezuelans, especially those living outside of larger cities, took to trading over their own goods for even
3726-444: The media and advertising could have been purchased for had the "client" bought it themselves (contract to eliminate ambiguity and risk). Soviet bilateral trade is occasionally called "barter trade", because although the purchases were denominated in U.S. dollars, the transactions were credited to an international clearing account , avoiding the use of hard cash. In the United States, Karl Hess used bartering to make it harder for
3795-410: The most basic of transactions. Additionally, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, barter exchanges reported a double-digit increase in membership, due to the scarcity of fiat money, and the degradation of monetary system sentiment. Economic historian Karl Polanyi has argued that where barter is widespread, and cash supplies limited, barter is aided by the use of credit, brokerage, and money as
3864-436: The need to use assets in an inefficient manner to satisfy external consumer demands. That also requires improving the local quality of life without having to make expenditures. LETS can allow for much greater self-direction and flexibility in employment patterns than the mainstream, conventional economy and, in particular, enable the skills of the unemployed to be valued and used. Even though LETS are strongly oriented towards
3933-617: The needs of their local communities in all kinds of ways. For example, in Australia, people have built houses using LETS in place of a bank mortgage , freeing the owner from onerous interest payments. LETS can help revitalise and build community by allowing a wider cross-section of the community —individuals, small businesses, local services and voluntary groups —to save money and resources in cooperation with others and extend their purchasing power. Other benefits may include social contact, health care, tuition and training, support for local enterprise and new businesses. One goal of this approach
4002-668: The payment of all required taxation. This does imply, however, that in situations where national-currency expenditures would be tax-deductible, LETS must be as well. In a number of countries, LETS have been encouraged as a social security initiative. For example, in Australia, Peter Baldwin , a former Minister of Social Security in the Keating government, encouraged LETS as a way of letting welfare recipients borrow against their welfare entitlement for urgent personal needs or to establish themselves in business. Since their commencement over 30 years ago, LETS have been highly innovative in adapting to
4071-493: The presence of society" (i.e. that social order established by gift exchange), and not typical between strangers. As Orlove noted, barter may occur in commercial economies, usually during periods of monetary crisis. During such a crisis, currency may be in short supply, or highly devalued through hyperinflation. In such cases, money ceases to be the universal medium of exchange or standard of value. Money may be in such short supply that it becomes an item of barter itself rather than
4140-622: The quantity of transactions depending on the supply-demand balance of the goods and services within the barter organization, member companies tend to face minimal competition within their own operating sector. Producers, wholesalers and distributors tend to engage in corporate barter as a method of exchanging goods and services with companies they are in business with. These bilateral barter transactions are targeted towards companies aiming to convert stagnant inventories into receivable goods or services, to increase market share without cash investments, and to protect liquidity. However, issues arise as to
4209-509: The same network, or they may spend first and earn later. In many countries, the distinction between LETS and timebanking is not clear, as many LETS use time as their unit of account. As per Linton's definition, LETS are generally considered to have the following five fundamental criteria: According to a 1996 survey by LetsLink UK, only 13% of LETS networks actually practise equivalence, with most groups establishing alternative systems of valuation "in order to divorce [themselves] entirely from
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#17328560037584278-467: The same network. In LETS, unlike other local currencies , no scrip is issued, but rather transactions are recorded in a central location open to all members. As credit is issued by the network members, for the benefit of the members themselves, LETS are considered mutual credit systems. The first exchange system was the Swiss WIR Bank . It was founded in 1934 as a result of currency shortages after
4347-590: The stock market crash of 1929. "WIR" is both an abbreviation of Wirtschaftsring (economic circle) and the word for "we" in German, reminding participants that the economic circle is also a community. In Australia and New Zealand, the largest barter exchange is Bartercard , founded in 1991, with offices in the United Kingdom , United States , Cyprus , UAE , Thailand , and most recently, South Africa . Other than its name suggests, it uses an electronic local currency ,
4416-418: The times of Adam Smith (1723–1790) often imagined pre-modern societies as examples to use the inefficiency of barter to explain the emergence of money, of "the" economy , and hence of the discipline of economics itself. Adam Smith sought to demonstrate that markets (and economies) pre-existed the state. He argued that money was not the creation of governments. Markets emerged, in his view, out of
4485-498: The trade dollar. Since its inception, Bartercard has amassed a trading value of over US$ 10 billion, and increased its customer network to 35,000 cardholders. In business, barter has the benefit that one gets to know each other, one discourages investments for rent (which is inefficient) and one can impose trade sanctions on dishonest partners. According to the International Reciprocal Trade Association ,
4554-477: The unwanted goods of another participant. Swapping among three parties often helps satisfy tastes when trying to get around the rule that money is not allowed. Other examples are El Cambalache in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico and post-Soviet societies. The recent blockchain technologies are making it possible to implement decentralized and autonomous barter exchanges that can be used by crowds on
4623-585: The users, there is much variation between schemes. LETS is not a scheme for avoiding the payment of taxation, and generally groups encourage all members to personally undertake their liabilities to the state for all taxation, including income tax and goods and services tax. In a number of countries, various government taxation authorities have examined LETS along with other forms of counter trade , and made rulings concerning their use. Generally for personal arrangements, social arrangements, hobbies or pastimes, there are no taxation implications. This generally covers
4692-420: The vast majority of LETS transactions. Taxation liabilities accrue when a tradesperson or professional person provides his or her professional services in payment for LETS units, or a registered or incorporated business sells part of its product for LETS units. In such cases, the businesses are generally encouraged to sell the service or product partly for LETS units and partly in the national currency, to allow
4761-400: Was fostered through the processes of reciprocity and redistribution , not barter. Everyday exchange relations in such societies are characterized by generalized reciprocity, or a non-calculative familial "communism" where each takes according to their needs, and gives as they have. Often the following features are associated with barter transactions: There is a demand focus for things of
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