The notion of transactions leads to the concept of a market. A market is the group of actual and potential buyers of an item.
To understand the nature of a market, visualize a primitive economy consisting of four residents: a fisherman, a hunter, a potter, and a farmer. These skilled trades people can interact in different ways to meet their needs.
In a self-sufficiency model, they gather the needed goods for themselves. Thus the hunter spends most of the time hunting, but also takes time to fish, make pottery, and farm to obtain the other goods. The hunter is less efficient at hunting, and the same is true of the other trades people.
In a decentralized exchange model, each person sees the other three as potential "buyers" who make up a market. Thus the hunter may make separate trips to trade goods with the fisherman, the potter, and the farmer to exchange meat for their goods.
In a centralized exchange model, a new person called a merchant appears and locates in a central area called a marketplace. Each tradesperson brings goods to the merchant and trades for other needed goods. Thus the hunter transacts with one "market" to obtain all the needed goods, rather than with three other persons.
The emergence of a merchant substantially reduces the total number of transactions required to accomplish a given volume of exchange. In other words, merchants and central marketplaces increase the transactional efficiency of the economy.
As the number of persons and transaction increases in a societal group, the number of merchants and marketplaces also increases. In advanced societies, markets need not be physical places where buyers and sellers interact. With modern electronic communication, banking and transportation, a merchant can advertise a product on late evening television, take orders from hundreds of customers over the phone, and ship the goods to the buyers on the following day without having had any physical contact with the buyers.
A market can develop around a product, a service, or anything else of value. For example, a labor market consisting of individuals who are willing to offer their time and skill in return for wages or products. Various institutions will develop around a labor market to assist its functioning, such as temporary employment agencies and career placement firms. The money market is another important market that emerges to meet the needs of people so that they can borrow, lend, save, and safeguard money. And the donor market emerges to meet the financial needs of nonprofit organizations.
To understand the nature of a market, visualize a primitive economy consisting of four residents: a fisherman, a hunter, a potter, and a farmer. These skilled trades people can interact in different ways to meet their needs.
In a self-sufficiency model, they gather the needed goods for themselves. Thus the hunter spends most of the time hunting, but also takes time to fish, make pottery, and farm to obtain the other goods. The hunter is less efficient at hunting, and the same is true of the other trades people.
In a decentralized exchange model, each person sees the other three as potential "buyers" who make up a market. Thus the hunter may make separate trips to trade goods with the fisherman, the potter, and the farmer to exchange meat for their goods.
In a centralized exchange model, a new person called a merchant appears and locates in a central area called a marketplace. Each tradesperson brings goods to the merchant and trades for other needed goods. Thus the hunter transacts with one "market" to obtain all the needed goods, rather than with three other persons.
The emergence of a merchant substantially reduces the total number of transactions required to accomplish a given volume of exchange. In other words, merchants and central marketplaces increase the transactional efficiency of the economy.
As the number of persons and transaction increases in a societal group, the number of merchants and marketplaces also increases. In advanced societies, markets need not be physical places where buyers and sellers interact. With modern electronic communication, banking and transportation, a merchant can advertise a product on late evening television, take orders from hundreds of customers over the phone, and ship the goods to the buyers on the following day without having had any physical contact with the buyers.
A market can develop around a product, a service, or anything else of value. For example, a labor market consisting of individuals who are willing to offer their time and skill in return for wages or products. Various institutions will develop around a labor market to assist its functioning, such as temporary employment agencies and career placement firms. The money market is another important market that emerges to meet the needs of people so that they can borrow, lend, save, and safeguard money. And the donor market emerges to meet the financial needs of nonprofit organizations.
About the Author:
MELALEUCA REVIEW. Get a Detailed and Unbiased Review of the Melaleuca BUSINESS and Melaleuca INCOME Opportunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment