Final answer:
A 'double coincidence of wants' describes the situation where two or more individuals have what the others want and decide to trade, which is the essence of bartering.
Step-by-step explanation:
A situation in which two or more individuals have goods or services that the others desire and engage in an exchange is known as a double coincidence of wants. This concept is fundamental to the practice of bartering, where individuals trade items directly without the use of money. An example of this would be if one person has apples and desires peaches, while another has peaches and wants apples; through bartering, they can trade to satisfy their respective preferences despite the scarcity of resources. Bartering and the double coincidence of wants are significant concepts in understanding the evolution of economies and the function of capitalism, which relies on transactions to generate wealth.