THE MARKET AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION

N ATIONAL AND I NTERNATIONAL M ARKETS Since the late 1980s, India has entered a new era in its economic history, following the change in economic policy from one of state-led development to liberalisation. This shift also ushered in the era of globalisation , a period in which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected — not only economically but also culturally and politically. The term globalisation includes a number of trends, especially the increase in international movement of commodities, money, information, and people, as well as the development of technology (such as in computers, telecommunications, and transport) and other infrastructure to allow this movement. A central feature of globalisation is the increasing extension and integration of markets around the world.

This integration means that changes in a market in one part of the globe may have a profound impact somewhere else far away. For instance, India’s booming software industry may face a slump if the U.S. Interpretation of Advertisements Make a collection of advertisements from newspapers and magazines. From the collection, choose two or three that you fi nd interesting.

For each of these advertisements, try to answer the following questions. . What is the product that is being advertised, and what image has been created of that product ? .

How has the advertiser tried to relate this product to a desirable lifestyle or social status ?