Commodity

In economics, a commodity is a substantially fungible marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services.

Etymology

The word commodity came into use in English in the 15th century, from the French commodité, "amenity, convenience". Going further back, the French word derives from the Latin commoditas, meaning "suitability, convenience, advantage". The Latin word commodus (from which English gets other words including commodious and accommodate) meant variously "appropriate", "proper measure, time, or condition", and "advantage, benefit".

Types of commodity

The term commodity is specifically used for an economic good or service when the demand for it has no qualitative differentiation across a market. In other words, a commodity good or service has full or partial but substantial fungibility; that is, the market treats its instances as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. As the saying goes, "From the taste of wheat, it is not possible to tell who produced it, a Russian serf, a French peasant or an English capitalist."Petroleum and copper are other examples of such commodities, their supply and demand being a part of one universal market. Items such as stereo systems, on the other hand, have many aspects of product differentiation, such as the brand, the user interface and the perceived quality. The demand for one type of stereo may be much larger than demand for another.

Commodity (album)

Commodity marks the fifth album from Remedy Drive. The project was funded via a Kickstarter funding campaign that enabled the band to self release the album on September 23, 2014. Remedy Drive worked with former band member Philip Zach on production.

Reception

Signaling in a four star review by CCM Magazine, Andy Argyrakis mentions, "Not only does Remedy Drive make its strongest musical statement since its 1998 beginnings, but the lyrical thread that runs throughout Commodity is also the group's most vital." Bobby Gilles, in a four star review from Worship Leader, explaining, "Now, with the concept album Commodity, Remedy Drive is providing a soundtrack to the resistance, declaring 'the Kingdom of God is at hand.'" In agreement with the four star ratings is Sarah Dos Santos of HM Magazine, recognizing, "There are a number of innovative songwriting skills used on this album, which helps to put the band’s unique synth-rock ambiance in a league of its own instead of as a Coldplay clone." Hamilton Barber, writes a four star review for Jesus Freak Hideout, declaring, "Commodity is a good record." Specifying in a four and a half star review at New Release Tuesday, Mary Nikkel observes, "Commodity is a concept album, and should be heard as such." Jessica Morris, awarding the album a nine and a half star rating for Jesus Wired, writes, "this album is breathtaking."

Commodity (Marxism)

In classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service ("products" or "activities") produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g. human labor-power, works of art and natural resources, even though they may not be produced specifically for the market, or be non-reproducible goods.

Marx's analysis of the commodity (in German: Kaufware, i.e. merchandise, ware for sale) is intended to help solve the problem of what establishes the economic value of goods, using the labor theory of value. This problem was extensively debated by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Karl Rodbertus-Jagetzow, among others. Value and price are not equivalent terms in economics, and theorising the specific relationship of value to market price has been a challenge for both liberal and Marxist economists.

Characteristics of commodity

In Marx's theory, a commodity is something that is bought and sold, or exchanged in a market.