Markets

Markets are physical or virtual spaces where people buy and sell commodities in exchange for money or for other commodities through barter. Markets can be local, national, or international in scale and exist within larger social and cultural contexts that affect the rules governing market transactions. Because markets can only deal with commodities, i.e., goods or services that are treated as somebody's property that can be sold, goods can only be made subject to market forces if they are first converted to a commodity form.

For example, humans can be made into a commodity if they are enslaved, but this form of commodification is now illegal. On the other hand, the Kyoto Protocol opens the possibility of internationally trading permits to emit carbon dioxide, treating carbon ...