pt. 1. Methodology -- pt. 2. Market performance in Babylonia and the Mediterranean in antiquity -- pt. 3. Market performance from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century -- pt. 4. Markets and money -- pt. 5. Long-term patterns -- pt. 6. Conclusion.

"This exciting new volume examines the development of market performance from Antiquity until the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Efficient market structures are agreed by most economists to serve as evidence of economic prosperity, and to be prerequisites for further economic growth....

Consumers, producers, critics, and other market agents rely on socially constructed categories like craft beers, houseware, collectibles, and thriller films for their understanding of products and producers in markets. Although organizational and sociological accounts often take such categories...