People are always trading things they have for other things they want but do not have At lunch you might trade your tuna sandwich for your friend’s chicken salad That seems like a fair exchange for both of you Trade and exchange depend on both parties getting something they want in a way they feel is fair Trade and exchange has gone on for thousands of years When early humans started to live in cities they traded things with one another They also traded items from their cities for things people in other cities had This is called long-distance trade For example people in the eastern eastern Mediterranean region had a special kind of wood called cedar They would trade it with people in China who had spices and silk People living on farms can trade their fruits vegetables vegetables cattle and other produce for goods and services available available in cities A farmer might exchange a basket of apples he grew for a pair of shoes someone in town made This works well for both parties as long as they agree on the value of the traded items Trading today looks different Many exchanges take place online Some people make trades on their phones using apps For example in 2016 App Ventures Limited updated its Trade n Play app that locates nearby gamers allows for browsing of their game libraries and provides a forum for trading video games Today’s trading can also 4 INTRODUCTION
Trade comes in all forms like exchanging snacks in school For a trade to happen both parties must feel they are benefiting from the exchange involve various forms of money from metal coins to currencies currencies based on computer algorithms Trade and exchange remain popular in schools Stu dents trade snacks school supplies and fun things like fidget fidget cubes and spinners Students can trade not just goods but also services or even goods for services If you give me a ride to dance rehearsal I will wash your car or buy you a couple of gallons of gas When people trade they offer something in exchange for something else that they need or want 5
Money also called currency often makes trade and exchange easier Money provides a way to express the value of traded items It also acts as an intermediary in the exchange People use money to engage in trade domestically domestically in their own countries They also use money to obtain goods and services from other countries Having access only to what you can produce is limiting But through trade and exchange you can gain access to goods and services produced produced by others around the world 6 Trade and Exchange
CHAPTER ONE Barter It Bartering is the direct exchange of one good or service for another good or service Thousands of years ago people in Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq discovered the benefits benefits of bartering They traded goods they had for ones they wanted Many other groups of people did the same thing in the ancient world Bartering was done in Europe in the Middle Ages A shoemaker and a farmer might trade their products with each other so that the shoemaker had food and the farmer had shoes With the use of large ships people people had a way to reach markets in faraway lands They would take their goods for exchange and bring back goods from those places to their own lands People usually bartered goods they had in surplus or more than they needed Suppose a person in the Middle Ages wanted to trade his extra fruits for someone else’s spices 7
