Chapter 2. Expansion of the Market the Extent of the Market How Goods Were Marketed in Preindustrial Europe

1 ©Meir Kohn 2014 CHAPTER 2. EXPANSION OF THE MARKET Economic progress is self-perpetuating. Market expansion induces changes in production that increase productivity; increased productivity raises the income of producers and reduces the price of goods. This opens the way for further market expansion. Expansion of the market is, therefore, both a cause and a consequence of economic progress.1 So to understand economic progress, we need to begin with market expansion—what determines the extent of the market and what causes it to expand or to contract? In this chapter, we will examine the process of market expansion in preindustrial Europe and then draw some conclusions about market expansion in general—as it occurs in all economies, including our own.