Comment on “The Complex Market: Communications of Exchange, Observing Competitors, and Prices” by Pascal Goeke and Evelyn Moser/1

Abstract

This comment on the essay “The Complex Market: Communications of Exchange, Observing Competitors, and Prices” by Pascal Goeke and Evelyn Moser (2018, Sociologica, 1) focuses on their discussion of how market actors observe one another, which is a theme connected to issues of prices and competition. In contrast to other coordination forms, i.e., mainly networks and organizations (hierarchies), markets require that those trading in markets are free to those so. Markets come with noise and disorder, due to the mutual adjustment that occurs between those trading in ordered markets. The general condition of markets is order. The text presents types of markets and argues that the role of mutual observation correlates with the type of market in question.