EVOLUTION OF TRADE: FROM BARTER TO DIGITAL PLATFORMS

Abstract

Trade is one of the oldest human activities, practically dating back to the very existence of humankind, when people lived in tribes. For many centuries, exchange took place through bartering – goods for goods. People would primarily exchange agricultural products and livestock. With the emergence of gold and silver, the exchange of goods became easier with  the use of these precious metals, up until the introduction of money. The first traders, who were exclusively engaged in the exchange of goods thousands of years before the Common Era, were the Phoenicians, Jews, and Arabs. Later, trade spread to other countries around the world. In the mid-20th century, for the first time, rules regulating international trade were established - the GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Half a century later, the World Trade Organization was founded, introducing the four freedoms - free movement of goods, services, capital, and people - leading to the full liberalization of international economic relations and significant desovereignization of countries in transition. In the early decades of the 21st century, two significant processes emerged in the world: the first being mass introduction of information and communication technologies and the rise of the internet, and the second the shift away from a unipolar world and the formation of new forms of connections