A **gift economy** is an [economic system](Economics "wikilink") in
which [money](money "wikilink") and [the free market](Free "wikilink")
do not exist, and goods are given freely to those who need or want them.
It is the principal economic theory of
[anarcho-communism](Anarcho-Communism "wikilink").

Similar but not identical to a [horizontally planned
economy](Horizontal_Economic_Planning "wikilink"), it involves the
production of goods by [self-managed
workplaces](Workers'_Self-Management "wikilink") in a [free
federation](free_federation "wikilink"). In one possible implementation
of the gift economy, workplaces may hold councils with local communities
and/or [delegates](Delegate "wikilink") to determine how much of a
demand there is for certain products. Typically in a gift economy, goods
would not be distributed to individuals, but available for any
individual in need to take for themselves.