ABSTRACT
This paper contains a concrete account of the main structure of the Mountain Fur economy. It also pursues an argument of greater generality concerning the use of the concept of spheres in the analysis of an economic system. Concretely, I try to show in what sense the flow of goods and services is patterned in discrete spheres, and to demonstrate the nature of the unity within, and barriers between, the spheres. I point to the discrepancies of evaluation that are made possible by the existence of barriers between spheres, and to the activities of entrepreneurs in relation to these barriers. To give the material, I also have to give a sketch of some important institutional complexes that constitute especially significant factors in determining the structure of the economy. Basic to the whole analysis is the view that the demarcation of spheres must be made with respect to the total pattern of circulation of value in an economic system, and not merely with reference to the criterion of direct exchangeability.
