Gift economies were the norm, but they were always smaller. They work well when you can expect to get your gift back in the future. However as the economy gets larger eventually you can't trust to get the value of your gift back, which is okay in small amounts, but if your gift is a signification percentage of your production when times are good you have to get it back when times are bad for you.
Money of some sort allows larger economies to become the norm. Sure there was always a little trade, but in a gift economy it wasn't significant to most people.
bluGill|1 year ago
Money of some sort allows larger economies to become the norm. Sure there was always a little trade, but in a gift economy it wasn't significant to most people.