A History of Commerce A History of Commerce

A History of Commerce

    • $7.99
    • $7.99

Publisher Description

The purposes of commerce.—The reader will follow more intelligently the history of commerce if he will stop a moment at the start to consider the purposes of commerce and the difficulties which must be overcome if it is to be successfully carried on.

As to the purposes we may be brief. The largest part of the time and energy of the ordinary man is consumed in getting the material things which furnish him with the means of subsistence and of culture. We are accustomed to think of the farmer and the manufacturer as charged especially with supplying our material wants, but a little reflection will show that the work of these classes, without the aid of another class, would be of little use to us. The food and clothing and tools and other desirable articles which they produce are valuable only when they are put into the hands of a man who wants them and can use them. Articles which we all should pronounce desirable, the ripe fruit of the farmer and the finished product of the manufacturer, have still only the possibility of good in them; and this possibility is realized only when they are put in the place where they are wanted at the time when they are wanted. It is the business of the merchant to attend to the proper distribution of wares, in place and time. He does not change the form of things, like the farmer or the manufacturer, but he is as truly a producer as they are.

Ice may be manufactured in summer by the ammonia process, or it may be saved from the preceding winter, or it may be brought in summer from Greenland. To the consumer it makes no difference which one of these methods is employed; he wants his ice in summer, and the trader who satisfies his wants by saving or transporting the ice is as useful a member of society as the manufacturer who makes the ice.

GENRE
Business & Personal Finance
RELEASED
2023
28 March
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
880
Pages
PUBLISHER
Library of Alexandria
SELLER
The Library of Alexandria
SIZE
10
MB

More Books Like This

The Industrial & Commercial Revolutions in Great Britain During the Nineteenth Century The Industrial & Commercial Revolutions in Great Britain During the Nineteenth Century
2013
Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present
2015
The Market in History (Routledge Revivals) The Market in History (Routledge Revivals)
2016
Economy and Society in 19th Century Britain Economy and Society in 19th Century Britain
2013
A History of States and Economic Policies in Early Modern Europe A History of States and Economic Policies in Early Modern Europe
2019
A Short History of Economic Progress A Short History of Economic Progress
2014

More Books by Clive Day