Hey Guys,
At the dawn of time, Everybody had needs to be met to live (Demands). Everybody could contribute to get what was needed (Supply).
In the olden times, there was this barbaric act of just abandoning or killing lame / disabled babies. That was a way of getting rid of unwanted strains on the System. There will not be a Demand which is more than the Supply that it can give. In fact, a lame baby would not have been able to defend itself and thus create the situation where others in the tribe were endangered, while trying to protect it as well.
Eventually, love and compassion stayed the hand of some and these lame children grew knowing full well that they were not able to hunt/gather/carry as much as the others. They had time to apply their brains, observe, analyse and come up with better ways of contributing. They would always have had strong opposition from the Warriors who were physically contributing to the tribe. But, eventually by becoming shamans and medicine men and toolmakers, these drain on resources were suddenly suppliers for a different set of needs. Previously unexplored, and non-essential to life sustainment (Wants). Thus, the Services industry was born.
This could have been the first instance of a serious physical Demand-Supply gap in the System. The gap would have existed earlier when not all people got the food they needed in the earlier System. That would have drove them to their first fight for food, water and land (hunting grounds); the first economic wars for limited resources. Once both sides realised that it was mutually harming chances of survival, either one would have given way or both would have decided for a mutual cease-fire. Either ways, the first barter Trade would have happened at this point with a little bit of early Diplomacy / Alliances thrown in.
This developing serious gap though could not be solved with just fighting and winning. It also required more than trade, especially in a large locality where they were in total power, with no others to grab from. This scenario along with developing methods of farming would have set off the first Agrarian economies. People realised that they could get more done if each other found his own type of specialty farming and then traded with others his excesses. internal trade flourished within communities. Of course, when you Specialise you get more of a better product and markets were there to facilitate trade.
The first Markets would have sprung very soon after the first barter trades happened. Trading posts which eventually became centres for their empires or smaller points in between empires that served as Consolidation Points of that particular area's specialty merchandise. This is where true Marketing would have started as pricing, positioning, product and with manual promotions.
To control everything, the inherent power structure from the tribal era would have evolved to support Monarchy systems. This system along with the people who support the monarchy would have formed the first Governments. An important part of Governments would have been the introduction of Taxes. People who lived in one area had to give something to the local monarch as a token. This also would have been a carry over from tribal days where the chief was given the "lion's share". A real example, Siam's (present day Thailand) holdings had to send them a "Bunga Mas" every year. Bunga = flower; Mas = gold. It literally was a symbolic little tree and flowers made of gold. Another meaning for Bunga = Interest (as in the interest paid on debt) presumably for living on the "borrowed land" of Siam.
This of course led to an interesting point in the development of economy as we know it. The discovery and manipulation of precious metals, Monarchies, inequalities inherent to barter trades, the need for tax collection in a form where lots of vegetables didn't go bad in the Royal coffers. All these would have led to the introduction of the Currency system. Money.
And so now we had Supply & Demand for Specialised Products & Services focused at the Markets. Exchanges were being done using Money and Monarchs were being paid Taxes by everyone in their domain. They needed someone to keep track of everything and Accountancy was born. The day that happened, every transaction done outside the "books" became the Black Market. Untaxable, untraceable yet physically money flowed from one to another for goods/services that never really "existed".
But, traders were more preoccupied with the money that was flowing in to their coffers. They could not run around and carrying all thier wealth in precious metal coins. They became the source of money that fed the black markets. Most of them found themselves in a pool of their own blood at the end of such transactions. Banks would have been formed at this point. Strongholds that kept everyone's valuables for a Fee. Eventually, seeing all those valuables in there just lying being unused would have led some clever banker to go on a "shopping spree"; Investments. Or it might have led him to think it would be ok to give money to someone who needs it and ask him to repay higher later (before the original owner came to reclaim it); Debt + Interest. The art of managing all this would have been Finance, as it is a different creature from only record keeping like accounting.
Now, there is a little philosophical bent to my story. I feel that as humans until that point in History we would have had our natural greed. Greed to survive. Greed to eat more. Greed to live in better conditions. Yet without focus, there was no strength in this human emotion to trap humans. Once Money was there. It was easy to see, to feel, to hear its 'jingle' during sleep. Anyone who had money had everything. Monarchs being the prime example and then the traders (proving the common man could have it too). The presence of a focus for greed amplified the emotion. Humans (who are great hunters!) became trapped in the hunt for money; only for money's sake. Children picked up the wrong message from their parents. Instead of hunting for enough food, enough land to live on and enough security; they were driven to hunt for money not really knowing the reason. Not really enjoying the fruits of the labour. For having money is pointless if you don't know what you want the money for, right?
And thus started the Economic Cycles as we now know it.
(Continued in Part 2)
At the dawn of time, Everybody had needs to be met to live (Demands). Everybody could contribute to get what was needed (Supply).
In the olden times, there was this barbaric act of just abandoning or killing lame / disabled babies. That was a way of getting rid of unwanted strains on the System. There will not be a Demand which is more than the Supply that it can give. In fact, a lame baby would not have been able to defend itself and thus create the situation where others in the tribe were endangered, while trying to protect it as well.
Eventually, love and compassion stayed the hand of some and these lame children grew knowing full well that they were not able to hunt/gather/carry as much as the others. They had time to apply their brains, observe, analyse and come up with better ways of contributing. They would always have had strong opposition from the Warriors who were physically contributing to the tribe. But, eventually by becoming shamans and medicine men and toolmakers, these drain on resources were suddenly suppliers for a different set of needs. Previously unexplored, and non-essential to life sustainment (Wants). Thus, the Services industry was born.
This could have been the first instance of a serious physical Demand-Supply gap in the System. The gap would have existed earlier when not all people got the food they needed in the earlier System. That would have drove them to their first fight for food, water and land (hunting grounds); the first economic wars for limited resources. Once both sides realised that it was mutually harming chances of survival, either one would have given way or both would have decided for a mutual cease-fire. Either ways, the first barter Trade would have happened at this point with a little bit of early Diplomacy / Alliances thrown in.
This developing serious gap though could not be solved with just fighting and winning. It also required more than trade, especially in a large locality where they were in total power, with no others to grab from. This scenario along with developing methods of farming would have set off the first Agrarian economies. People realised that they could get more done if each other found his own type of specialty farming and then traded with others his excesses. internal trade flourished within communities. Of course, when you Specialise you get more of a better product and markets were there to facilitate trade.
The first Markets would have sprung very soon after the first barter trades happened. Trading posts which eventually became centres for their empires or smaller points in between empires that served as Consolidation Points of that particular area's specialty merchandise. This is where true Marketing would have started as pricing, positioning, product and with manual promotions.
To control everything, the inherent power structure from the tribal era would have evolved to support Monarchy systems. This system along with the people who support the monarchy would have formed the first Governments. An important part of Governments would have been the introduction of Taxes. People who lived in one area had to give something to the local monarch as a token. This also would have been a carry over from tribal days where the chief was given the "lion's share". A real example, Siam's (present day Thailand) holdings had to send them a "Bunga Mas" every year. Bunga = flower; Mas = gold. It literally was a symbolic little tree and flowers made of gold. Another meaning for Bunga = Interest (as in the interest paid on debt) presumably for living on the "borrowed land" of Siam.
This of course led to an interesting point in the development of economy as we know it. The discovery and manipulation of precious metals, Monarchies, inequalities inherent to barter trades, the need for tax collection in a form where lots of vegetables didn't go bad in the Royal coffers. All these would have led to the introduction of the Currency system. Money.
And so now we had Supply & Demand for Specialised Products & Services focused at the Markets. Exchanges were being done using Money and Monarchs were being paid Taxes by everyone in their domain. They needed someone to keep track of everything and Accountancy was born. The day that happened, every transaction done outside the "books" became the Black Market. Untaxable, untraceable yet physically money flowed from one to another for goods/services that never really "existed".
But, traders were more preoccupied with the money that was flowing in to their coffers. They could not run around and carrying all thier wealth in precious metal coins. They became the source of money that fed the black markets. Most of them found themselves in a pool of their own blood at the end of such transactions. Banks would have been formed at this point. Strongholds that kept everyone's valuables for a Fee. Eventually, seeing all those valuables in there just lying being unused would have led some clever banker to go on a "shopping spree"; Investments. Or it might have led him to think it would be ok to give money to someone who needs it and ask him to repay higher later (before the original owner came to reclaim it); Debt + Interest. The art of managing all this would have been Finance, as it is a different creature from only record keeping like accounting.
Now, there is a little philosophical bent to my story. I feel that as humans until that point in History we would have had our natural greed. Greed to survive. Greed to eat more. Greed to live in better conditions. Yet without focus, there was no strength in this human emotion to trap humans. Once Money was there. It was easy to see, to feel, to hear its 'jingle' during sleep. Anyone who had money had everything. Monarchs being the prime example and then the traders (proving the common man could have it too). The presence of a focus for greed amplified the emotion. Humans (who are great hunters!) became trapped in the hunt for money; only for money's sake. Children picked up the wrong message from their parents. Instead of hunting for enough food, enough land to live on and enough security; they were driven to hunt for money not really knowing the reason. Not really enjoying the fruits of the labour. For having money is pointless if you don't know what you want the money for, right?
And thus started the Economic Cycles as we now know it.
(Continued in Part 2)
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