Handel
19 cards from across every topic, each citing a source. Tap one to open it in the feed.
- "Most favoured nation" sounds like privilege and means equal treatment.
Under Article I of the GATT, a WTO member must extend any trade advantage it grants to one country immediately to all …
- 'Sugar' travelled from India via Persia and Arabia to Europe.
Sanskrit 'śarkarā' meant gravel or grit. Along trade routes the word became Persian 'shakar', Arabic 'sukkar', medieval …
- A steel box changed the world economy more than the internet.
In 1956 trucking entrepreneur Malcom McLean loaded 58 containers onto a converted tanker. Before that, dockworkers …
- How a farmer locks in autumn's price back in spring.
A future is an exchange-standardised contract covering quantity, quality and delivery date. Selling the harvest before …
- How two strangers trade across 10,000 kilometres.
With a documentary letter of credit, the importer's bank gives a payment promise. The exporter ships, submits the …
- No ancient trader ever travelled the "Silk Road".
The name was coined by the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen, who popularised it in 1877 after seven journeys …
- The biggest merchant fleets belong to countries that barely build ships.
A ship falls under the laws of the country whose flag it flies, whoever owns it. Panama, Liberia and the Marshall …
- The expensive products sit exactly where you're looking.
Supermarkets plan every shelf with so-called planograms. At eye level, roughly 120 to 160 cm, sit the highest-margin …
- The middle option only exists so you buy the big one.
With the decoy effect, a seller slips in a deliberately unattractive option. Small coffee €3, large €4.50: many pick …
- The pack costs the same, there's just less inside.
Shrinkflation is a hidden price increase: instead of raising the price, the maker reduces the contents. 200 g becomes …
- The same flight costs something different tomorrow morning.
With dynamic pricing, an algorithm continuously adjusts prices to demand, time of day, remaining stock and competitors. …
- The small number on the shelf that exposes every price trick.
In the EU, retailers must show the unit price next to the selling price, meaning the price per kilogram, litre or …
- Three letters decide who owns the cargo during the storm.
The Incoterms of the International Chamber of Commerce, currently the 2020 edition, bundle eleven clauses. They …
- Trade pays off even if you're better at everything.
David Ricardo showed in 1817: even if Portugal makes both wine and cloth more cheaply than England, both gain if each …
- Whether you say "tea" or "chai" reveals the trade route.
Almost every language has one of two words for tea. "Cha" from Cantonese and Mandarin travelled overland: Persian chay …
- Why almost nothing costs €10 but everything costs €9.99.
Reading left to right, the first digit anchors most strongly. €9.99 gets stored by your brain as nine-something rather …
- Why rich merchants were nicknamed 'pepper sacks'.
In the Middle Ages, pepper travelled thousands of kilometres from India to Europe, through many hands and customs …
- Why the crossed-out price makes you buy.
The anchoring effect means the first number you see distorts your judgement. A €49 jumper seems expensive. Put a …
- Why the supermarket sells butter at almost no profit.
A loss leader is a product the retailer deliberately sells at almost no margin. Butter, cola or nappies at rock-bottom …