2010 Offseason Wheeling and Dealing

[Obed_Marsh]

LIVAN!

Don't make me find a puking smiley.

[DPMOmaha]

Right now, I'm just pushing buttons. 

[PANatsFan]

As the man always says:


GET BUTT-CISED!

[houston-nat]

we need another major league caliber starting pitcher. i don't see any left.

Wikipedia:

Trade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious metals (poles, coins), bill, paper money. Modern traders instead generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade between more than two traders is called multilateral trade.

Trade exists for man due to specialization and division of labor, most people concentrate on a small aspect of production, trading for other products. Trade exists between regions because different regions have a comparative advantage in the production of some tradable commodity, or because different regions' size allows for the benefits of mass production. As such, trade at market prices between locations benefits both locations.

Trading can also refer to the action performed by traders and other market agents in the financial markets.

Contents

    * 1 History of trade
          o 1.1 Development of money
          o 1.2 Current trends
                + 1.2.1 Doha rounds
                + 1.2.2 China
    * 2 International trade
    * 3 References

History of trade
Trade originated with the start of communication in prehistoric times. Trading was the main facility of prehistoric people, who bartered goods and services from each other before the innovation of the modern day currency. Peter Watson dates the history of long-distance commerce from circa 150,000 years ago.[1]

Trade is believed to have taken place throughout much of recorded human history. There is evidence of the exchange of obsidian and flint during the stone age. Materials used for creating jewelry were traded with Egypt since 3000 BC. Long-range trade routes first appeared in the 3rd millennium BC, when Sumerians in Mesopotamia traded with the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley. The Phoenicians were noted sea traders, traveling across the Mediterranean Sea, and as far north as Britain for sources of tin to manufacture bronze. For this purpose they established trade colonies the Greeks called emporia. From the beginning of Greek civilization until the fall of the Roman empire in the 5th century, a financially lucrative trade brought valuable spice to Europe from the far east, including China. Roman commerce allowed its empire to flourish and endure. The Roman empire produced a stable and secure transportation network that enabled the shipment of trade goods without fear of significant piracy.

The fall of the Roman empire, and the succeeding Dark Ages brought instability to Western Europe and a near collapse of the trade network. Nevertheless some trade did occur. For instance, Radhanites were a medieval guild or group (the precise meaning of the word is lost to history) of Jewish merchants who traded between the Christians in Europe and the Muslims of the Near East.

The Sogdians dominated the East-West trade route known as the Silk Road after the 4th century AD up to the 8th century AD, with Suyab and Talas ranking among their main centeres in the north. They were the main caravan merchants of Central Asia.

From the 8th to the 11th century, the Vikings and Varangians traded as they sailed from and to Scandinavia. Vikings sailed to Western Europe, while Varangians to Russia. The Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities that maintained a trade monopoly over most of Northern Europe and the Baltic, between the 13th and 17th centuries.

Vasco da Gama restarted the European Spice trade in 1498. Prior to his sailing around Africa, the flow of spice into Europe was controlled by Islamic powers, especially Egypt. The spice trade was of major economic importance and helped spur the Age of Exploration. Spices brought to Europe from distant lands were some of the most valuable commodities for their weight, sometimes rivaling gold.

In the 16th century, Holland was the centre of free trade, imposing no exchange controls, and advocating the free movement of goods. Trade in the East Indies was dominated by Portugal in the 16th century, the Netherlands in the 17th century, and the British in the 18th century. The Spanish Empire developed regular trade links across both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

In 1776, Adam Smith published the paper An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. It criticised Mercantilism, and argued that economic specialisation could benefit nations just as much as firms. Since the division of labour was restricted by the size of the market, he said that countries having access to larger markets would be able to divide labour more efficiently and thereby become more productive. Smith said that he considered all rationalisations of import and export controls "dupery", which hurt the trading nation at the expense of specific industries.

In 1799, the Dutch East India Company, formerly the world's largest company, became bankrupt, partly due to the rise of competitive free trade.

In 1817, David Ricardo, James Mill and Robert Torrens showed that free trade would benefit the industrially weak as well as the strong, in the famous theory of comparative advantage. In Principles of Political Economy and Taxation Ricardo advanced the doctrine still considered the most counterintuitive in economics:

    When an inefficient producer sends the merchandise it produces best to a country able to produce it more efficiently, both countries benefit.

The ascendancy of free trade was primarily based on national advantage in the mid 19th century. That is, the calculation made was whether it was in any particular country's self-interest to open its .

John Stuart Mill proved that a country with monopoly pricing power on the international market could manipulate the terms of trade through maintaining tariffs, and that the response to this might be reciprocity in trade policy. Ricardo and others had suggested this earlier. This was taken as evidence against the universal doctrine of free trade, as it was believed that more of the economic surplus of trade would accrue to a country following reciprocal, rather than completely free, trade policies. This was followed within a few years by the infant industry scenario developed by Mill promoting the theory that government had the "duty" to protect young industries, although only for a time necessary for them to develop full capacity. This became the policy in many countries attempting to industrialise and out-compete English exporters. Milton Friedman later continued this vein of thought, showing that in a few circumstances tariffs might be beneficial to the host country; but never for the world at large.[2]

The Great Depression was a major economic recession that ran from 1929 to the late 1930s. During this period, there was a great drop in trade and other economic indicators.

The lack of free trade was considered by many as a principal cause of the depression. Only during the World War II the recession ended in the United States. Also during the war, in 1944, 44 countries signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, intended to prevent national trade barriers, to avoid depressions. It set up rules and institutions to regulate the international political economy: the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (later divided into the World Bank and Bank for International Settlements). These organisations became operational in 1946 after enough countries ratified the agreement. In 1947, 23 countries agreed to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to promote free trade.

Free trade advanced further in the late 20th century and early 2000s:

    * 1992 European Union lifted barriers to internal trade in goods and labour.
    * January 1, 1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect
    * 1994 The GATT Marrakech Agreement specified formation of the WTO.
    * January 1, 1995 World Trade Organization was created to facilitate free trade, by mandating mutual most favoured nation trading status between all signatories.
    * EC was transformed into the European Union, which accomplished the Economic and Monnetary Union (EMU) in 2002, through introducing the Euro , and creating this way a real single market between 13 member states as of January 1, 2007.
    * 2005, the Central American Free Trade Agreement was signed; It includes the United States and the Dominican Republic.

[hammondsnats]

Man, that would really suck if we missed out on picking up another starter.  I think Rizzo/Lerners have done a good job thus far in the offseason, but would really be taking a strike down the middle if we don't add another quality SP.  I'd be okay with Hudson and I would give the Nats offseason a grade of B, but we really have a chance to swing for an A with adding another quality one.  We can't continue to throw rookies out there back-to-back days again.

[DPMOmaha]

Sidney Ponson, Kenny Rodgers and Steve Trachsel are all still available.

[hammondsnats]

Sidney Ponson, Kenny Rodgers and Steve Trachsel are all still available.

dude, that's not even funny

[Lintyfresh85]

Bedard, Smoltz, Wang... plenty of talent left out there.

[PANatsFan]

Sidney Ponson, Kenny Rodgers and Steve Trachsel are all still available.

Ponson somehow puts out decent numbers when they drag his ass down to the ballfield.

[DPMOmaha]

dude, that's not even funny

Kris Benson, Bartolo Colon or Esteban Loaiza instead?

[hammondsnats]

Kris Benson, Bartolo Colon or Esteban Loaiza instead?

[HerndonNat]

I was actually kind of hoping we'd give Ben Sheets a chance.  Has this already been talked about?

[Vega]

Mark Mulder is still available. Anyone interested in him?

[hammondsnats]

I was actually kind of hoping we'd give Ben Sheets a chance.  Has this already been talked about?

yeah, most of us are sad we didn't land him. 

Mark Mulder is still available. Anyone interested in him?

he is?  I could've sworn someone scooped him up, but I could be wrong.

[DPMOmaha]

he is?  I could've sworn someone scooped him up, but I could be wrong.

Doesn't look like it.  He had been talking to Milwaukee, but it doesn't look like they've come to a deal yet though as far as I can tell.

[houston-nat]

Interesting quotation from Orlando Hudson:  "There is good progress going on every day," Hudson said. "I will sign soon enough. You can put it on the Internet and on TV. I'm going to sign. I can't say exactly when. It will not be long. I can't say if it's with the Nationals, San Diego or Cleveland. I can't say with whom. Something is getting done."

(Ladson link)

[Lintyfresh85]

It won't be with Cleveland.

That's from my mind fact source.

[ronnynat]

10 million is a good amount of change, but if Sheets is healthy, he's worth it.

That's too much guaranteed money, IMO.

[Vega]

Interesting quotation from Orlando Hudson:  "There is good progress going on every day," Hudson said. "I will sign soon enough. You can put it on the Internet and on TV. I'm going to sign. I can't say exactly when. It will not be long. I can't say if it's with the Nationals, San Diego or Cleveland. I can't say with whom. Something is getting done."

(Ladson link)

San Diego and Cleveland? That is our competition for the O-Dog? Knowing that, there is no way we shouldn't get him.

[PANatsFan]

San Diego and Cleveland? That is our competition for the O-Dog? Knowing that, there is no way we shouldn't get him.

It's a no brainer that the Nats are going to have a better season than either of those teams.

[Lintyfresh85]

That's not true. Indians have a ton more talent than the Nats do.

Its not really close.

[tomterp]

Take a look what Damon did away from the AL East. In the 45 game the Yankees played out side the AL east, Damon hit a grand total of 0 home runs.

Ephemera.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

That's not true. Indians have a ton more talent than the Nats do.

Its not really close.

Is that a joke?

[amanuel]

I <3 this thread

[HalfSmokes]

It's a no brainer that the Nats are going to have a better season than either of those teams.

based on what, we haven't done much to improve ourselves and we're coming of a string of 100 loss seasons