And the Markets…

ANTH 1610: 2/22/2010

Ten Principles of Economics1. People Face Tradeoffs.

2. The Cost of Something is What You Give Up to Get It.

3. Rational People Think at the Margin.

4. People Respond to Incentives.

5. Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off.

6. Markets are Usually a Good Way to Organize Economic Activity.

7. Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes.

8. A Country’s Standard of Living Depends on Its Ability to Produce Goods and Services.

9. Prices Rise When the Government Prints Too Much Money.

10. Society Faces a Short Run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment.

Capitalism, the Ideology

What are Markets?

The Myth of the Self-Regulating Market

All entrants into the market (human and material) are social entities

Labor, Land, and Money are NOT commodities.

Markets and Regulation have “grown-up” hand-in-hand

Societies, markets, and regulation are indivisible.

Karl Polanyi: The Great Transformation

“The outstanding discovery of recent historical and anthropological research is that man’s economy, as a rule, is submerged in his social relationships. He does not act as to safeguard his individual interest in the possession of material goods; he acts so to safeguard his social standing, his social claims, his social assets. He values material goods only insofar as they serve this end. Neither the process of production nor that of distribution is linked to specific economic interests attached to the possession of goods; but every single step in that process is geared to a number of social interests which eventually ensure that the required step be taken.”

Reciprocity, Redistribution, Householding - œconomia

The Problem of

Social Order

How do societies regulate themselves in the absence of a state?

How do markets regulate themselves in the absence of a state?

How do people discern norms, practice governance, and reproduce rules and practices in the absence of a state?

The Social Dimension of the Market

“INSTEAD OF THE ECONOMY BEING EMBEDDED IN SOCIAL RELATIONS, SOCIAL RELATIONS ARE EMBEDDED IN THE

ECONOMIC SYSTEM.”

Do African Markets Operate in the

Absence of the State?Yes No

What is the difference between

Capitalism and Markets?

Lessons to be learned from Anthropologies of

African Markets:•The relationship between social reproduction and economic production•The social foundations of the market•Problems with principles of Exchange•Nuances of Value•Altnerative frameworks of Credit, Debt, and Investment

Ten Principles of Economics1. People Face Tradeoffs.

2. The Cost of Something is What You Give Up to Get It.

3. Rational People Think at the Margin.

4. People Respond to Incentives.

5. Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off.

6. Markets are Usually a Good Way to Organize Economic Activity.

7. Governments Can Sometimes Improve Market Outcomes.

8. A Country’s Standard of Living Depends on Its Ability to Produce Goods and Services.

9. Prices Rise When the Government Prints Too Much Money.

10. Society Faces a Short Run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment.

Key Concepts Supply Demand Credit Debt Investment Labor Commodity Reciprocity

Liquidity Currency Investment Trade Networks Markets Value Exchange

Commodities?•Prestige•Social Debts (Think Piot)•Dependency•Control over Labor•Information or Relation Niches•Gifts of Specialized Goods

•…. What else?

Find the moral economy.

Gender and Development in African Markets:

What is going on here?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAIX1SYT-qo

DEVELOPMENT FOCUS

•Microfinance•Transportation Aid•Marketplace renovations•Women’s Empowerment•Craft Markets•Skills Trainings

MARKET FOCUS

•Market Women’s Associations•Practices of Apprenticeship•Barter, Truck, and Exchange•Regional Networks•Price and Supply Fluctuations•Trading Knowledge and Relationships