Trade

This article is about trade as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on the subject.

Trade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. In most countries, trade originated with the barter of goods. In modern times, trade is mostly done with some form of currency. Although trade can take place both between citizens of different nations and citizens of the same nation, the term is usually used to refer to international trade. Domestic trade is more commonly referred to as the market or simply the economy. Some countries with collectivist economies (like many members of CACE) or with truly alien systems of production (like S-14) sometimes lack domestic trade.

The combined sum of all voluntary economic exchanges form the free market, which plays a powerful role in most Western countries, even those with social democratic or moderately socialist governments. Some organizations, such as the Order of the Invisible Hand, actually worship the Market, claiming that the combination of all voluntary exchanges naturally gives rise to a force independent of individual economic actors which nonetheless works things out in everyone's best interests by its very nature.