What is Commodity?
'''Commodity''' is a term with distinct meanings in both [[business]] and in [[Marxism|Marxian]] [[political economy]]. For the former, it is a product, that is traded solely on the basis of price. For Marxian political economy it means wares offered for exchange. ==Business usage== In the world of [[business]], a commodity is a [[Product (consumer goods)|product]], [[Product (consumer goods)|good]] or [[service]] that is [[trade]]d based solely on its price, rather than quality and features. Examples include: [[electricity]] (most users of electric power are only concerned with energy consumption; only a minority of users are concerned with the quality and technical details of voltage and frequency deviations), [[wheat]], bulk chemicals such as [[sodium carbonate]], [[metal]]s, and even [[Orange (fruit)|orange]] [[juice]]. In the original and simplified sense, ''commodities'' were things of value, of uniform quality, that were produced in large quantities by many different producers; the items from each different producer are considered as of the same value. ===Examples=== [[Wheat]] is an example of a soft commodity. Wheat from many different farms comes together. Generally, it is all traded at the same price; wheat from farm A has not another price than wheat from farm B. Some uniform [[standard of quality]] is assumed. (There may be various standards leading to different pools: one say for [[genetic modification|genetically modified wheat]], and one for unmodified [[wheat]].) International markets for the [[trade]] of commodities can be very [[efficient]], particularly if the division into pools matches demand [[market segmentation|segments]]. These markets will quickly respond to changes in [[supply and demand]] to find a [[price]]. ==Commodities and Marxism== In classical [[political economy]] and especially [[Karl Marx]]'s critique of [[political economy]], a commodity is simply any good or service offered as a product for sale on the market. Some items are also seen as being treated ''as if''