When bricks were rubles

For a brief, strange period after the U.S.S.R. collapsed, "real" money was less valuable than tradeable objects like bricks or towels. We look back at the Russian barter economy and we see the nature of money and value underneath all currency. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money?utm_source=rss_feed_copy&utm_medium=podcast&utm_term=planet_money">here</a>.