Trade

Trade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Modern traders instead generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade between more than two traders is called multilateral trade.

Organisation of trade

Patterns of organising and administering trade include:

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• State control - trade centrally controlled by government planning.
• Laws regulating Trade and establishing a framework such as Trade law, Tariffs, support for Intellectual property, opposition to Dumping.
• Guild control - trade controlled by private business associations holding either de facto or government-granted power to exclude new entrants.
• In contemporary times, the language has evolved to business and professional organizations, often controled by Academica. For example in many states, a person may not practice the professions of Engineering, Lawyer, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Teaching unless they have relevant College Degree and may need a License issued by a national association of that profession.
• Free enterprise - trade without significant central controls; market participants engage in trade based on their own individual assessments of risk and reward, and may enter or exit a given market relatively unimpeded.
• Infrastructure in support of Trade, such as Banking, Stock Market,
• Technology in support of Trade such as Electronic Commerce, Vending Machines.

International organizations

• European Common Market
• GATT = General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
• G8
• IMF = International Monetary Fund
• OPEC = Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

Free trade areas

• Free trade organizations or free trade areas
• European Free Trade Association
• Free Trade Area of the Americas
• NAFTA = North American Free Trade Agreement
• South American Community of Nations

United Nations umbrella

• UNCTAD = United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• WTO = World Trade Organization