Monday 12 February 2018

How merchant guilds became obsolete [feedly]

a column by Prateek Raj for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

In medieval Europe, trade depended on personal relationships, which were usually mediated by merchant guilds. The column argues that increasing incentives to do business with merchants outside the guild system, and the availability of better information about those trading partners, led to the decline of merchant guilds in the 16th century. This occurred first in coastal cities that were early adopters of printing technology.

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