If the value of a commodity is determined by utility and scarcity, you probably didn't think of salt. We have plenty of it today, due to modern hydraulic mining production. But in the ancient world, salt was incredibly valuable. Cities and empires were developed around the production of salt, wars were fought over its control (the war between Genoa and Venice being one example), and salt was even used as currency in some
The global flow of silver managed to redefine the social structure in many societies, as well as dramatically altered the basis of the economy in many European and Asian countries. Despite the economic change that came from the mass production of silver and its use as a standard currency, the growth of the silver industry brought as much change socially and culturally as it brought economic transformation. Many people viewed the conversion to silver being the standardized currency as a huge hindrance to their daily lives, but the silver industry brought wealth to many societies and became a necessity in trade. On one side of things, the flow of silver throughout the world brought a wave of economic change, as mentioned in documents 3,5,6,
This way it becomes easier to understand how vulnerable the things the world takes for granted are. Better understanding and insight of the value leads to appreciating it more, and provides a stronger awareness and protection of the environment and habitat of the ecosystem. Calculating a monetary value makes it even more powerful, because it seems like people have an easier time valuing services that have their economic value in numbers over services that have a moral value only described through the importance of them. Having a monetary value also makes it easier for governments to make reasonable decisions and policies about the ecosystem. But at the same time, putting an obvious price and financial value on nature makes it a ‘commodity’ that can be traded, which can put its biodiversity into dangerous, especially for rare species and habitats. (Valuing Ecosystem, Biodiversity
Monetary values have changed throughout history because problems presented in each system of commerce. Bartering was among the earliest forms of commerce to present a problem. It did not establish monetary value in anything specific, allowing an individual’s wants or needs to be deemed monetary values. Each seller could make exchange requests based on different things. For example, a starving man could deem grain a commodity if he only manufactures luxury goods. Based on his hunger, the starving man can request to make an exchange of his luxury good with farmers for grain. Given that luxury goods are not a necessity, nor desired by everyone, the farmers can refuse his offer. The man would have to barter with a third party to acquire whatever the farmers were willing to make an exchange for. Inconsistent commodities in bartering made transactions inefficient because it could require multiple exchanges. Standards were established to combat the inefficiency of bartering through establishing value in one set commodity that all would accept. With a standard, the man could obtain grain directly from the farmers because it is mandated that the standard be accepted as debt payment. Therefore, it is more efficient to have a standard which only requires one transaction than to barter. For a matter of convenience, value transferred from virtually any object to specific resources. A common resource used for standards is metal. In early empires and recent nations, gold and/or silver
Scarcity shows us the basic economic problem, where humans have unlimited wants, yet there are only finite amount of resources. Therefore, there are not enough resources to fulfill these unlimited needs. One real world example of a scarce resource is coal. Coal is a resource used for fossil fuel and is a combustible rock. Coal is used for “electricity generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and as a liquid fuel”. As you can see there are many uses for coal, thus there will be companies needing as much coal as they can get, however there is only a finite amount for everyone, therefore it must be allocated correctly in order to satisfy those needing coal for self interest and their own objectives.
Price gouging refers to the practice of raising the price of goods, services, or commodities to an unfair or unreasonable level. Price gouging is often the result of a sudden increase in demand and a shortage of the desired goods often in time of a pending natural disaster or other crisis. Price gouging is seen as an ethical issue as it takes advantage of others misfortunes and bad situations by raising the price for necessary goods and services to unjust levels; to prevent price gouging from occurring thirty-four states have passed laws against it and one faces criminal charges plus civil liabilities if it is discovered that they have engaged in the act . However, some economist and opposers of price gouging laws argue that if consumers are willing and able to pay the set price for a good or service than the business should not be held responsible.
Today’s society is very different than what it was thousands of years ago. Back then everyone shared, there was no problem with who got what, and mostly no one got more than the rest. Now everything that has any value is sold for something profitable. California for instance, we have so much production of many things and we sell all around the world. California’s soil is so good that it has been maintained in agriculture for many years. But let’s not forget that agriculture needs a lot of water, for all of the food that is being planted. Water is no longer something that California has; we are and have been in a severe drought for more than four consecutive years.
According to the Oxford dictionary, commodity is any raw material that can be bought and sold for economic means. That said, sugar and coffee are all commodities, because they can be sold and bought for a monetary value. The problem with this description however is that by simplifying the word commodity into a material gain or based on money, it’s undermining the value of the material like its cultural worth and origin. Therefore, this is reason why when we buy sugar, we see it based on its tastiness or its financial worth, but rarely as a material that can cause social ,cultural and even historically difference; which is why the book “Sweetness and power” is important in revealing the relational and historical fact about sugar.
“All my life I wanted to be a ball player. It’s a great sport, but I never dreamt it was possible. You are real baseball players. Now small boys in India can dream to be like you. Let’s go make JB and your families proud. Hey brothers, I’m seeing my dreams in you. Your victory, my victory.” (Tuttle, 1). In the movie Million dollar arm it tells the dramatic story of two boys from India named Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singn a chance to be signed by a major league baseball team in America. As the boys travel with JB Bernstein from India to America they are faced with many obstacles whether it be learning English, adapting from cricket to baseball, and moving to a whole new environment from their own in India. Throughout the movie Dinesh and Rinku are not the only ones being taught a lesson JB will go through a dramatic change in life and learn to be more passionate with his work and see that
One reason why is the value. An example can be pennies. Some pennies can be worth plenty over a certain period of time. Most people look at the pennies as worthless coins and just throw them away. Or maybe an ugly painting, but they are being sold for thousands maybe even millions.
I mean, for a start, by God. That is why the demand upon us to develop
metals with value and wealth. Smith claims that, the real measure of the wealth of a nation is the
The currency has evolved over the time of man. The sense of value created the act of buying goods rather than trading for them. Earth's rarest gems and elements became a common currency throughout the world. Gold was a particularly famous currency in the United States. The event of the gold rush sent Americans out west to attempt to find gold. The United States had already created its national form of currency known as the US dollar. Americans saw great fortunate selling gold for dollars. This event made some Americans wealthy. There are many factors that affect the distribution of wealth in the United States. The time of events and history affect the distribution of wealth in the United States.
The term “commodity” itself, as coined by Marx, has a very broad definition. “The commodity is, first of all, an external object, a thing which
I believe value is something only an individual can assign to their own life based on experience and significance. A life is’t an object you can place a price on, it’s a complex network full of experiences good and bad shared with others. Everyone on this planet has value not just to themselves but to others as well but that value is higher than any amount of money existing. Everyones life has an effect on the people around them. If you were to die tomorrow everyones life in your network of family and friends would change
The commodity that is under discussion here is wheat. Wheat can be classified as a necessary commodity and not a luxury commodity. According to the Free Dictionary online (2012), necessary commodities are those whose demand is constant, it is a staple produce or product that can be processed and resold . This indicates that there could be a given population that relies on this particular commodity for the substantial part of their provision or meals.