Trade
Trade has been a defining feature of human life since time immemorial. With the possible exception of hermits, we all need to trade to survive. We consume an immense variety of goods and services. As individuals, none of us is capable of producing all that we consume. We are necessarily forced to produce only a very limited (often only one) kind of goods and services. We exchange what we produce for the wide variety of things we consume.
This exchange of one person’s production for a variety of consumer goods from other persons could be effected through barter but barter is prohibitively expensive in terms of time and effort because it necessitates many “double coincidence of wants.” Therefore we use money as an intermediate good. I get money by selling whatever I produce and use the money to buy what I consume.
This buying and selling is critical to our survival as individuals and, by extension, as a society. Continue reading “On Trade and Trump’s Tariffs — Part 1”
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 