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80-489: It was founded in 1667 on the left bank of the Kamyshinka River. In 1710, all of its inhabitants were relocated to the fortress of Dmitriyevsk ( Дмитриевск ) on the opposite bank of the river. In 1780, the name was changed to Kamyshin and it was granted town status. In the 19th century, Kamyshin turned into a merchant city with sawmills and windmills . It was formerly famous for its watermelon trade. Near Kamyshin,

160-528: A Roman merchant named Lun reached southern China in 226 CE. Archaeologists have recovered Roman objects dating from the period 27 BCE to 37 CE from excavation sites as far afield as the Kushan and Indus ports. The Romans sold purple and yellow dyes, brass and iron; they acquired incense , balsam , expensive liquid myrrh and spices from the Near East and India, fine silk from China and fine white marble destined for

240-594: A book called Merchants in Motion: the art of Vietnamese Street Vendors. Although merchant halls were known in antiquity, they fell into disuse and were not reinvented until Europe's Medieval period. During the 12th century, powerful guilds which controlled the way that trade was conducted were established and were often incorporated into the charters granted to market towns . By the 13th and 14th centuries, merchant guilds had acquired sufficient resources to erect guild halls in many major market towns. Many buildings have retained

320-401: A business to create goods or provide services for consumers, capital goods are important in other ways. In an industry where production equipment and materials are quite expensive, they can be a high barrier to entry for new companies. If a new business cannot afford to purchase the machines it needs to create a product, for example, it may not be able to compete as effectively in the market. Such

400-401: A company might turn to another business to supply its products, but this can be expensive as well. This means that, in industries where the means of production represent a large amount of a business's start-up costs, the number of companies competing in the market is often relatively small. The acquisition of machinery and other expensive equipment often represents a significant investment for

480-418: A company. When a business is struggling, it often puts off such purchases as long as possible, since it does not make sense to spend money on equipment if the company is not around to use it. Capital spending can be a sign that a manufacturer expects growth or at least a steady demand for its products, a potentially positive economic sign. In most cases, capital goods require a substantial investment on behalf of

560-520: A distinction that is often confused with David Ricardo 's. In Marxian theory, variable capital refers to a capitalist's investment in labor-power, seen as the only source of surplus-value . It is called "variable" since the amount of value it can produce varies from the amount it consumes, i.e. , it creates new value. On the other hand, constant capital refers to investment in non-human factors of production, such as plant and machinery, which Marx takes to contribute only its own replacement value to

640-682: A diverse range of product types. These merchants were concentrated in the larger cities. They often provided high levels of credit financing for retail transactions. In the nineteenth century, merchants and merchant houses played a role in opening up China and the Pacific to Anglo-American trade interests. Note for example Jardine Matheson & Co. and the merchants of New South Wales . Other merchants profited from natural resources (the Hudson's Bay Company theoretically controlled much of North America, names like Rockefeller and Nobel dominated trade in oil in

720-412: A given year." Capital goods have also been called complex product systems ( CoPS ). The means of production is as a "...series of heterogeneous commodities, each having specific technical characteristics ..." in the form of a durable good that is used in the production of goods or services. Capital goods are a particular form of economic good and are tangible property . Capital goods are one of

800-691: A group of musical performers; and dream merchant , which refers to someone who peddles idealistic visionary scenarios. Broadly, merchants can be classified into two categories: However, the term 'merchant' is often used in a variety of specialised contexts such as in merchant banker , merchant navy or merchant services . Merchants have existed as long as humans have conducted business, trade or commerce. A merchant class operated in many pre-modern societies . Open-air, public markets, where merchants and traders congregated, functioned in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phoenicia and Rome. These markets typically occupied

880-603: A key role in the economic analysis of "... growth and production, as well as the distribution of income..." Capital goods can also be immaterial, when they take the form of intellectual property . Many production processes require the intellectual property to (legally) produce their products. Just like material capital goods, they can require substantial investment, and can also be subject to amortization, depreciation, and divestment. People buy capital goods to use as static resources to make other goods, whereas consumer goods are purchased to be consumed. For example, an automobile

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960-552: A lowly profession and it was often subject to legal discrimination or restrictions, although in a few areas its status began to improve. The modern era is generally understood to refer to period that started with the rise of consumer culture in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities. An emergent middle class or bourgeoisie stimulated demand for luxury goods, and

1040-425: A major factor in the process of technical innovation : All innovations—whether they involve the introduction of a new product or provide a cheaper way of producing an existing product—require that the capital goods sector shall produce a new product (machine or physical plant ) according to certain specifications . Capital goods are a constituent element of the stock of capital assets, or fixed capital and play

1120-561: A number of former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as Byblos (in present-day Lebanon ) and Carthage in North Africa. The social status of the merchant class varied across cultures; ranging from high status (the members even eventually achieving titles such as that of Merchant Prince or Nabob ) to low status, as in China , Greece and Roman cultures, owing to

1200-428: A place in the town's centre. Surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metal-workers and leather workers, occupied premises in alley ways that led to the open market-place. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days. In ancient Greece markets operated within the agora (open space), and in ancient Rome in the forum . Rome's forums included

1280-499: A specific type of goods, i.e. , capital goods. Austrian School economist Eugen Boehm von Bawerk maintained that capital intensity was measured by the roundaboutness of production processes. Since capital is defined by him as being goods of higher-order, or goods used to produce consumer goods, and derived their value from them, being future goods. Human development theory describes human capital as being composed of distinct social, imitative and creative elements: This theory

1360-479: A system of agents. Merchants specialised in financing, organisation and transport while agents were domiciled overseas and acted on behalf of a principal. These arrangements first appeared on the route from Italy to the Levant, but by the end of the thirteenth century merchant colonies could be found from Paris, London, Bruges, Seville, Barcelona and Montpellier. Over time these partnerships became more commonplace and led to

1440-433: Is a consumer good when purchased as a private car. Dump trucks used in manufacturing or construction are capital goods because companies use them to build things like roads, dams, buildings, and bridges. In the same way, a chocolate bar is a consumer good, but the machines that produce the candy are capital goods. Some capital goods can be used in both production of consumer goods or production goods, such as machinery for

1520-483: Is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated in ancient Babylonia , Assyria , China , Egypt , Greece , India , Persia , Phoenicia and Rome . During the European medieval period , a rapid expansion in trade and commerce led to

1600-444: Is an input in the production function . The total physical capital at any given moment in time is referred to as the capital stock (not to be confused with the capital stock of a business entity). Capital goods , real capital, or capital assets are already-produced, durable goods or any non-financial asset that is used in production of goods or services . Classical and neoclassical economics describe capital as one of

1680-447: Is believed to be the first example of a merchant guild. The term, guild was first used for gilda mercatoria and referred to body of merchants operating out of St. Omer, France in the 11th century. Similarly, London's Hanse was formed in the 12th century. These guilds controlled the way that trade was to be conducted and codified rules governing the conditions of trade. Rules established by merchant guilds were often incorporated into

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1760-521: Is derived from Anglo-Norman marchaunt , which itself originated from the Vulgar Latin mercatant or mercatans , formed from present participle of mercatare ('to trade, to traffic or to deal in'). The term refers to any type of reseller, but can also be used with a specific qualifier to suggest a person who deals in a given characteristic such as speed merchant , which refer to someone who enjoys fast driving; noise merchant , which refers to

1840-646: Is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Kamyshin —an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts . As a municipal division , the city of oblast significance of Kamyshin is incorporated as Kamyshin Urban Okrug . The city lies within the humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfa) zone, and experiences four distinct seasons. FC Tekstilshchik Kamyshin now plays in Russian Second Division ; however, in 1992-1996

1920-503: Is not really capital, because "Their economic value merely represents the power of one class to appropriate the earnings of another" and "their increase or decrease does not affect the sum of wealth in the community". Some thinkers, such as Werner Sombart and Max Weber , locate the concept of capital as originating in double-entry bookkeeping , which is thus a foundational innovation in capitalism , Sombart writing in "Medieval and Modern Commercial Enterprise" that: Karl Marx adds

2000-459: Is the basis of triple bottom line accounting and is further developed in ecological economics , welfare economics and the various theories of green economics . All of which use a particularly abstract notion of capital in which the requirement of capital being produced like durable goods is effectively removed. The Cambridge capital controversy was a dispute between economists at Cambridge, Massachusetts based MIT and University of Cambridge in

2080-526: Is what makes it a factor of production: These distinctions of convenience have carried over to contemporary economic theory . Adam Smith provided the further clarification that capital is a stock . As such, its value can be estimated at a point in time. By contrast, investment , as production to be added to the capital stock, is described as taking place over time ("per year"), thus a flow . Earlier illustrations often described capital as physical items, such as tools, buildings, and vehicles that are used in

2160-809: The Forum Romanum , the Forum Boarium and Trajan's Forum . The Forum Boarium, one of a series of fora venalia or food markets, originated, as its name suggests, as a cattle market. Trajan's Forum was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with shops on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shop-front. In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling through permanent or semi-permanent retail premises such as stall-holders at market places or shop-keepers selling from their own premises or through door-to-door direct sales via merchants or peddlers . The nature of direct selling centred around transactional exchange, where

2240-714: The Khazars , and moving from the Don basin to the Volga. In the 16th century, the Turkish Sultan Selim II attempted to build a canal here. A similar effort was later made by Peter the Great who built the fort, originally named Petrovsk, to protect workmen during the (unfinished) construction of the canal. Within the framework of administrative divisions , Kamyshin serves as the administrative center of Kamyshinsky District , even though it

2320-539: The Mediterranean , becoming a major trading power by the 9th century BCE. Phoenician merchant traders imported and exported wood, textiles, glass and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit and nuts. Their trading necessitated a network of colonies along the Mediterranean coast, stretching from modern-day Crete through to Tangiers (in present-day Morocco ) and northward to Sardinia . The Phoenicians not only traded in tangible goods, but were also instrumental in transporting

2400-410: The factors of production (alongside the other factors: land and labour ). All other inputs to production are called intangibles in classical economics. This includes organization, entrepreneurship , knowledge, goodwill, or management (which some characterize as talent , social capital or instructional capital). Many definitions and descriptions of capital goods production have been proposed in

2480-587: The 1530s. These included including Georg Giese of Danzig ; Hillebrant Wedigh of Cologne ; Dirk Tybis of Duisburg ; Hans of Antwerp , Hermann Wedigh, Johann Schwarzwald, Cyriacus Kale, Derich Born and Derick Berck. Paintings of groups of merchants, notably officers of the merchant guilds, also became subject matter for artists and documented the rise of important mercantile organisations. In 2022, Dutch photographer Loes Heerink spend hours on bridges in Hanoi to take pictures of Vietnamese street Merchants. She published

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2560-524: The 17th century. They stood out in international trade due to their vast network – mostly built by Armenian migrants spread across Eurasia. Armenians had established prominent trade-relations with all big export players such as India, China, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, England, Venice, the Levant, etc. Soon they captured Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, the Levant, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, and

2640-477: The 18th century with governmental encouragement of nobles to invest in trade, and the lifting of old bans on nobles engaging in economic activities. As Britain continued colonial expansion , large commercial organisations came to provide a market for more sophisticated information about trading conditions in foreign lands. Daniel Defoe ( c. 1660–1731), a London merchant, published information on trade and economic resources of England, Scotland and India. Defoe

2720-469: The 21st century. Elizabeth Honig has argued that artists, especially the painters of Antwerp , developed a fascination with merchants from the mid-16th century. The wealthier merchants also had the means to commission artworks with the result that individual merchants and their families became important subject matter for artists. For instance, Hans Holbein the younger painted a series of portraits of Hanseatic merchants working out of London's Steelyard in

2800-538: The Far East trade routes, carrying out mostly caravan -trade activities. A significant reason for Armenians' massive involvement in international trade was their geographic location – the Armenian lands stand at the crossroads between Asia and Europe. Another reason was their religion, as they were a Christian nation isolated between Muslim Iran and Muslim Turkey. European Christians preferred to carry out trade with Christians in

2880-505: The Mediterranean; its fame travelled as far away as modern southern France. Other notable Roman merchants included Marcus Julius Alexander (16 – 44 CE), Sergius Orata (fl. c. 95 BCE) and Annius Plocamus (1st century CE). In the Roman world, local merchants served the needs of the wealthier landowners. While the local peasantry, who were generally poor, relied on open-air market places to buy and sell produce and wares, major producers such as

2960-465: The Roman wholesale market from Arabia. For Roman consumers, the purchase of goods from the East was a symbol of social prestige . Medieval England and Europe witnessed a rapid expansion in trade and the rise of a wealthy and powerful merchant class. Blintiff has investigated the early Medieval networks of market towns and suggests that by the 12th century there was an upsurge in the number of market towns and

3040-500: The Romans did not consider the activities of merchants "respectable". In the ancient cities of the Middle East, where the bazaar was the city's focal point and heartbeat, merchants who worked in bazaar enjoyed high social status and formed part of local elites. In Medieval Western Europe, the Christian church, which closely associated merchants' activities with the sin of usury , criticised

3120-473: The UK about the measurement of capital. The Cambridge, UK economists, including Joan Robinson and Piero Sraffa claimed that there is no basis for aggregating the heterogeneous objects that constitute 'capital goods.' Political economists Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler have suggested that capital is not a productive entity, but solely financial and that capital values measure the relative power of owners over

3200-571: The US and in the Russian Empire), while still others made fortunes from exploiting new inventions – selling space on and commodities carried by railways and steamships. In fully planned economies of the 20th century, planners replaced merchants in organising the distribution of goods and services . However, merchants, increasingly labelled with euphemisms such as "industrialists", "businessmen", "entrepreneurs" or "oligarchs" , continue their activities in

3280-609: The Volga is quite close—17 kilometers (11 mi)—to the upper reaches of the Ilovlya River , the tributary of the Don . The distance between the sources of the Kamyshinka River , the tributary of the Volga, and the Ilovlya is only a little more than 4 kilometers (2.5 mi). In this place in ancient times there existed a portage ("volok") many times used by the troops invading the land of

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3360-404: The act of shopping came to be seen as a pleasurable pastime or form of entertainment. 16th century Spanish and 17th century English nobles had been enticed into participating in trade by the profitability of colonial expeditions. In the 17th century, members of the nobility in many European countries like France or Spain still disliked engaging in merchant activities, but such attitudes changed in

3440-594: The charters granted to market towns . In the early 12th century, a confederation of merchant guilds, formed out the German cities of Lübeck and Hamburg, known as "The Hanseatic League " came to dominate trade around the Baltic Sea . By the 13th and 14th centuries, merchant guilds had sufficient resources to have erected guild halls in many major market towns. During the thirteenth century, European businesses became more permanent and were able to maintain sedentary merchants and

3520-557: The club played in the top tier of Russian association football , achieving fourth place in 1993. This was followed by the campaign in the UEFA Cup where Tekstilshchik reached the second round. Near Kamyshin, there is a 330-meter (1,080 ft) tall guyed TV mast, which belongs to the tallest man-made structures in Volgograd Oblast. [REDACTED] Media related to Kamyshin at Wikimedia Commons Merchant A merchant

3600-506: The commodities it is used to produce. Investment or capital accumulation , in classical economic theory, is the production of increased capital. Investment requires that some goods be produced that are not immediately consumed, but instead used to produce other goods as capital goods . Investment is closely related to saving , though it is not the same. As Keynes pointed out, saving involves not spending all of one's income on current goods or services, while investment refers to spending on

3680-402: The development of large trading companies. These developments also triggered innovations such as double-entry book-keeping, commercial accountancy, international banking including access to lines of credit, marine insurance and commercial courier services. These developments are sometimes known as the commercial revolution. Luca Clerici has made a detailed study of Vicenza's food market during

3760-747: The eighteenth century, a new type of manufacturer-merchant was emerging and modern business practices were becoming evident. Many merchants held showcases of goods in their private homes for the benefit of wealthier clients. Samuel Pepys , for example, writing in 1660, describes being invited to the home of a retailer to view a wooden jack. McKendrick, Brewer and Plumb found extensive evidence of eighteenth-century English entrepreneurs and merchants using "modern" marketing techniques, including product differentiation , sales promotion and loss-leader pricing. English industrialists, Josiah Wedgewood (1730–1795) and Matthew Boulton (1728–1809), are often portrayed as pioneers of modern mass-marketing methods. Wedgewood

3840-455: The emergence of merchant circuits as traders bulked up surpluses from smaller regional, different day markets and resold them at the larger centralised market towns. Peddlers or itinerant merchants filled any gaps in the distribution system. From the 11th century, the Crusades helped to open up new trade routes in the Near East, while the adventurer and merchant, Marco Polo stimulated interest in

3920-564: The far East in the 13th century. Medieval merchants began to trade in exotic goods imported from distant shores including spices, wine, food, furs, fine cloth (notably silk), glass, jewellery and many other luxury goods . Market towns began to spread across the landscape during the medieval period. Merchant guilds began to form during the Medieval period. A fraternity formed by the merchants of Tiel in Gelderland (in present-day Netherlands) in 1020

4000-512: The fine cloth imports while the Hanseatic League controlled most of the trade in the Baltic Sea. A detailed study of European trade between the thirteenth and fifteenth century demonstrates that the European age of discovery acted as a major driver of change. In 1600, goods travelled relatively short distances: grain 5–10 miles; cattle 40–70 miles; wool and wollen cloth 20–40 miles. However, in

4080-412: The floor of his atrium were decorated with images of amphorae bearing his personal brand and inscribed with quality claims. One of the inscriptions on the mosaic amphora reads "G(ari) F(los) SCO[m]/ SCAURI/ EX OFFI[ci]/NA SCAU/RI" which translates as "The flower of garum, made of the mackerel, a product of Scaurus, from the shop of Scaurus". Scaurus' fish sauce had a reputation for very high quality across

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4160-459: The following division: Separate literatures have developed to describe both natural capital and social capital . Such terms reflect a wide consensus that nature and society both function in such a similar manner as traditional industrial infrastructural capital, that it is entirely appropriate to refer to them as different types of capital in themselves. In particular, they can be used in the production of other goods, are not used up immediately in

4240-439: The goods were on open display, allowing buyers to evaluate quality directly through visual inspection. Relationships between merchant and consumer were minimal often playing into public concerns about the quality of produce. The Phoenicians became well known amongst contemporaries as "traders in purple" – a reference to their monopoly over the purple dye extracted from the murex shell. The Phoenicians plied their ships across

4320-505: The great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates. The very wealthy landowners managed their own distribution, which may have involved exporting. Markets were also important centres of social life, and merchants helped to spread news and gossip. The nature of export markets in antiquity is well documented in ancient sources and in archaeological case-studies. Both Greek and Roman merchants engaged in long-distance trade. A Chinese text records that

4400-515: The highest level of exchange, they transferred a more outward-looking mindset and system of values to their commercial-exchange transactions, and also helped to disseminate a more global awareness to broader society and therefore acted as agents of change for local society. Successful, open-minded cosmopolitan merchants began to acquire a more esteemed social position within the political elites. They were often sought as advisors for high-level political agents. The English nabobs belong to this era. By

4480-437: The literature. Capital goods are generally considered one-of-a-kind, capital intensive products that consist of many components. They are often used as manufacturing systems or services themselves. Examples include hand tools , machine tools , data centers , oil rigs , semiconductor fabrication plants , and wind turbines . Their production is often organized in projects, with several parties cooperating in networks. This

4560-502: The merchant class, strongly influencing attitudes towards them. In Greco-Roman society, merchants typically did not have high social status, though they may have enjoyed great wealth. Umbricius Scauras, for example, was a manufacturer and trader of garum in Pompeii, circa 35 C.E. His villa, situated in one of the wealthier districts of Pompeii, was very large and ornately decorated in a show of substantial personal wealth. Mosaic patterns in

4640-470: The names derived from their former use as the home or place of business of merchants: Capital (economics) In economics , capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory . At the macroeconomic level, "the nation's capital stock includes buildings, equipment, software, and inventories during

4720-625: The nobility. This trading system supported various levels of pochteca – from very high status merchants through to minor traders who acted as a type of peddler to fill in gaps in the distribution system. The Spanish conquerors commented on the impressive nature of the local and regional markets in the 15th century. The Mexica ( Aztec ) market of Tlatelolco was the largest in all the Americas and said to be superior to those in Europe. In much of Renaissance Europe and even after, merchant trade remained seen as

4800-401: The presumed distastefulness of profiting from "mere" trade rather than from labor or the labor of others as in agriculture and craftsmanship . The Romans defined merchants or traders in a very narrow sense. Merchants were those who bought and sold goods, while landowners who sold their own produce were not classed as merchants. Being a landowner was a "respectable" occupation. On the other hand,

4880-425: The process of production, and can be enhanced (if not created) by human effort. There is also a literature of intellectual capital and intellectual property law . However, this increasingly distinguishes means of capital investment, and collection of potential rewards for patent , copyright (creative or individual capital ), and trademark (social trust or social capital) instruments. Building on Marx, and on

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4960-406: The producer, and their purchase is usually referred to as a capital expense. These goods are important to businesses because they use these items to make functional goods for customers or to provide consumers with valuable services. As a result, they are sometimes referred to as producers' goods, production goods, or means of production. In the theory of international trade, the causes and nature of

5040-403: The production of a product (e.g., machines and storage facilities), while the latter referred to physical assets consumed in the process of production (e.g., raw materials and intermediate products). For an enterprise, both were types of capital. Economist Henry George argued that financial instruments like stocks, bonds, mortgages, promissory notes, or other certificates for transferring wealth

5120-491: The production of dump trucks. Consumption is the logical result of all economic activity, but the level of future consumption depends on the future capital stock, and this in turn depends on the current level of production in the capital-goods sector. Hence if there is a desire to increase consumption, the output of the capital goods should be maximized. Capital goods, often called complex products and systems (CoPS), play an important role in today's economy. Aside from allowing

5200-430: The production of saleable goods and services. In Marxian critique of political economy , capital is viewed as a social relation . Critical analysis of the economists portrayal of the capitalist mode of production as a transhistorical state of affairs distinguishes different forms of capital: Adam Smith defined capital as "that part of man's stock which he expects to afford him revenue". In economic models , capital

5280-730: The production process. Since at least the 1960s economists have increasingly focused on broader forms of capital. For example, investment in skills and education can be viewed as building up human capital or knowledge capital , and investments in intellectual property can be viewed as building up intellectual capital . Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. These terms lead to certain questions and controversies discussed in those articles. A capital good lifecycle typically consists of tendering, engineering and procurement, manufacturing, commissioning, maintenance, and (sometimes) decommissioning. Capital goods are

5360-491: The region. Eighteenth-century merchants who traded in foreign markets developed a network of relationships which crossed national boundaries, religious affiliations, family ties, and gender. The historian, Vannneste, has argued that a new " cosmopolitan merchant mentality" based on trust, reciprocity and a culture of communal support developed and helped to unify the early modern world. Given that these cosmopolitan merchants were embedded within their societies and participated in

5440-440: The rise of a wealthy and powerful merchant class . The European Age of Discovery opened up new trading routes and gave European consumers access to a much broader range of goods. By the 18th century, a new type of manufacturer-merchant had started to emerge and modern business practices were becoming evident. The status of the merchant has varied during different periods of history and among different societies. In modern times,

5520-424: The sake of the publicity and kudos generated. Both Wedgewood and Boulton staged expansive showcases of their wares in their private residences or in rented halls. Eighteenth-century American merchants, who had been operating as importers and exporters, began to specialise in either wholesale or retail roles. They tended not to specialise in particular types of merchandise, often trading as general merchants, selling

5600-431: The sixteenth century. He found that there were many different types of merchants operating out of the markets. For example, in the dairy trade, cheese and butter was sold by the members of two craft guilds (i.e., cheesemongers who were shopkeepers) and that of the so-called ‘resellers’ (hucksters selling a wide range of foodstuffs), and by other sellers who were not enrolled in any guild. Cheesemongers’ shops were situated at

5680-477: The term merchant has occasionally been used to refer to a businessperson or someone undertaking activities (commercial or industrial) for the purpose of generating profit, cash flow, sales, and revenue using a combination of human, financial, intellectual and physical capital with a view to fueling economic development and growth. The English term, merchant comes from the Middle English, marchant , which

5760-476: The theories of the sociologist and philosopher Pierre Bourdieu , scholars have recently argued for the significance of "culinary capital" in the arena of food. The idea is that the production, consumption, and distribution of knowledge about food can confer power and status. Within classical economics, Adam Smith ( Wealth of Nations , Book II, Chapter 1) distinguished fixed capital from circulating capital . The former designated physical assets not consumed in

5840-458: The three types of producer goods , the other two being land and labour . The three are also known collectively as "primary factors of production ". This classification originated during the classical economics period and has remained the dominant method for classification. Capital can be increased by the use of the factors of production , which however excludes certain durable goods like homes and personal automobiles that are not used in

5920-595: The town hall and were very lucrative. Resellers and direct sellers increased the number of sellers, thus increasing competition, to the benefit of consumers. Direct sellers, who brought produce from the surrounding countryside, sold their wares through the central market place and priced their goods at considerably lower rates than cheesemongers. From 1300 through to the 1800s a large number of European chartered and merchant companies were established to exploit international trading opportunities. The Company of Merchant Adventurers of London , chartered in 1407, controlled most of

6000-467: The trade of capital goods receive little attention. Trade-in capital goods is a crucial part of the dynamic relationship between international trade and development. The production and trade of capital goods, as well as consumer goods, must be introduced to trade models, and the entire analysis integrated with domestic capital accumulation theory. Detailed classifications of capital that have been used in various theoretical or applied uses generally respect

6080-518: The trappings of culture. The Phoenicians' extensive trade networks necessitated considerable book-keeping and correspondence. In around 1500 BCE, the Phoenicians developed a script which was much easier to learn than the pictographic systems used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Phoenician traders and merchants were largely responsible for spreading their alphabet around the region. Phoenician inscriptions have been found in archaeological sites at

6160-617: The years following the opening up of Asia and the discovery of the New World, goods were imported from very long distances: calico cloth from India, porcelain, silk and tea from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World. In Mesoamerica, a tiered system of traders developed independently. The local markets, where people purchased their daily needs were known as tianguis while pochteca referred to long-distance, professional merchants traders who obtained rare goods and luxury items desired by

6240-531: Was a prolific pamphleteer. His many publications include titles devoted to trade, including: Trade of Britain Stated (1707); Trade of Scotland with France (1713); The Trade to India Critically and Calmly Considered (1720) and A Plan of the English Commerce (1731); all pamphlets that became highly popular with contemporary merchants and business houses. Armenians operated as a prominent trade nation during

6320-420: Was able to generate higher overall profits. Similarly, one of Wedgewood's contemporaries, Matthew Boulton, pioneered early mass-production techniques and product differentiation at his Soho Manufactory in the 1760s. He also practiced planned obsolescence and understood the importance of " celebrity marketing " – that is supplying the nobility, often at prices below cost – and of obtaining royal patronage , for

6400-494: Was known to have used marketing techniques such as direct mail , travelling salesmen and catalogues in the eighteenth century. Wedgewood also carried out serious investigations into the fixed and variable costs of production and recognised that increased production would lead to lower unit-costs. He also inferred that selling at lower prices would lead to higher demand and recognised the value of achieving scale economies in production. By cutting costs and lowering prices, Wedgewood

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