Well, let's see....

Assuming no money, at least for some period of time, barter becomes the economic "coin" of the realm.

No money, most current jobs disappear. Most current jobs exist primarily so people can earn money to consume stuff. In a world without money most of the existing systems have come to a screeching halt. After the smoke clears, work will be centered on two things: growing/obtaining food and making things/providing services that can be bartered for food.

Anybody with land, climate, ability, etc. to grow food will probably be doing so, bartering any excess for additional labor, supplies, etc. Depending on location, people with hunting/gathering skills should be able to gather sufficient stocks to survive and barter.

The remaining folks will have to come up with skills that are useful in the new society. Primarily, these will be skills that provide goods and services used in the production and delivery of food, or that provide the other basic necessities of life. Depending on their specific skill sets some veterinarians, doctors, nurses, and teachers may be able to parlay those skills into food. Actually, I'm not sure about teachers. I suspect that all adults and most teenagers will need to be working at sustaining themselves and their families. Maybe grade school/high school teachers might be necessary, but I'm not entirely convinced, at least at first. People with woodworking or craft skills may be able to create enough business to survive. People who can repair things, carpenters, mechanics, plumbers, and other mechanical/creative types will probably have plenty of work as things break down and must be repaired (as they can no longer be easily replaced).

Eventually, some kind of local money will evolve, if only to grease the wheels of barter. Depending on the availability of transportation and communication, perhaps regional or national currencies will come back into existence. I would be shocked if any of these were not tied directly to some underlying asset. It could be gold, energy, food, livestock, timber, land or something completely different. I just don't see much likelihood of some kind of fiat fractional-reserve money system reappearing.

If money were to disappear, I think you end up with a very different society. Different professions. Different relationships. Different social, political, and security structures. I think almost everything ends up focused on the exchange of physical goods or services directly or indirectly tied to the core task of obtaining the basic necessities of life (food, water, shelter, basic medical care, etc.). People with skills or resources that support that task will be in a good position, relatively speaking. Those that cannot will need to learn quickly or get used to some probably unpleasant alternatives.

Brian

Brian:

Some very interesting comments. However, one thing for the group to think about (and I will apologize in advance if this has already been brought up but I missed it because I have not read all the comments) is the issue of population and die-off. My very superficial appreciation of the population I come into contact with on a daily basis is that there are many many many individuals who have none of the right skills and would be hard pressed to come up with any other abilities to survive than those of functioning as a parasite. My fear,should money ever 'disappear' is that the parasites of society, i.e. drug dealers, criminals of every other ilk, etc. would find themselves in a tight spot, having no abilities other than the inclination to suck off of the rest of society. I fear there would be a period of absolute chaos with much loss of life and suffering. aBarter would be one way to survive, but what if you hve nothing to barter?

rdorrett - Those who know how to use a gun will have power of death. Those who know how to grow food will have power of life. The former need the latter, whereas the latter don't need the former. There will be many unskilled etc who are totally knocked out by the shock and/or go beserk. But for the most part, those demonstrating vital skills such as farming and mending will be respected rather than persecuted. About time too!