ABSTRACT
Economics is a mutable and slippery concept. In order to reduce the complexities of economics and add some clarity to the discussion, author suggests an equation-like, simple formula that accounts for trade, transactions, and other dealings in value. The point here is to describe a fundamental practice that transcends historical period and place that is a sort of initial definition of perhaps not economics as conventionally understood, but of the exchange of any type of value. Reciprocity is associated with kinship and close relations; historically it has been linked to gift economies. Gift is intended to designate any item or service of value given to another. It may be unconditional or conditional. The key personage in the thinking behind the gift concept was scholar Marcel Mauss, a nephew of the French sociologist, Emile Durkheim. Mauss emphasized that in principle giving a gift was voluntary and disinterested, but in fact was often compulsory and self-interested.
