A World of Money - Economics

From the various sections within this site the user will appreciate how important money and its uses are. It allows people to conduct trade in goods, products and services. Trading has had very simple beginnings but over the millennia it has become a very sophisticated method to help consumers to part with their money.

15th Century – 19th Century

During the European Slave Trade a 3 way exchange of goods helped to change or enrich many European life styles as they were introduce to sugar, rum, rice, coffee, tobacco and cotton amongst others into their everyday lives.

Manufactured goods were shipped off to West Africa to again enrich the lives of the people there, but not for the better. They included manufactured cloth, silks from Asia, glassware, ammunition, guns, manilas, pots and shackles. On the west coast of Africa these goods were used to buy Africans to be used as unpaid labour on the plantation fields in the Caribbean and southern United States.

Before the strategic development of the European slave trade, the nation states of West Africa had their own economic system which was centred on local products, services and goods.
Way before the advent of the European slave traders, most of the African communities were located quite away in land. Then at different times local disputes between clans meant: the losers would become slaves to the victors.

With the influx of European slave traders things changed for the worst because many of the African chiefs saw the wealth they brought and became very greedy. Guns and ammunition helped to fuel local disputes which meant more Africans where put into captivity to be then sold to the European traders. It also meant that same of the African communities started too relocated to be closer to the coastline and to gain easier access to Europeans when they arrived. The importing of these manufactured clothes had a negative impact on the local manufacturing of cloth in West Africa.

This free labour fuelled the whole European slave trade and enabled Europe to become rich and Africa poor.

20th Century – 21st Century

EBay, Amazon.co.uk are two of the many market leaders when it comes to helping people part with their money to acquire the latest objects of desire at the cheapest price. There are others: the many companies who have created an online presence and encourage browsers to pay for goods and services online, even your local council offers you the choice of paying your council tax by direct debit.

Since the dawn of the 21st century, consumers have been provided with a way of creating a lifestyle without the need for going to the high street.

With the European slave trade, the medium that facilitated consumerism and improve lifestyles was the Atlantic Ocean. Today we have the internet and the World Wide Web. Producers, consumers, suppliers all try to maximise their profits reduce their over overheads and supply goods/services as cheaply as possible.

The internet has revolutionised the way that businesses operate and function. There is no need to get a bank loan, travel 1000’s of miles to the other side of the world to start a business. To work in conditions that was so very different to that of Europe. Instead you can apply for a bank loan online create space in your house and you are up and running. You work when you want to work: early hours of the morning or 9-5. You buy goods without leaving your home, they arrive you update your stock on your website and wait for people to visit and order.

So instead of having free labour and selling products with a near 100% profit, we have the internet a free medium for commerce.