All contracting parties must be able to agree and respect them as promised. Then comes the old rule that miners cannot enter into contracts. They are not considered mature enough to understand the effects of an agreement. Both parties must be of legal age and a healthy mind. As social agreements, markets are made up of bilateral, effective and potential foreign exchange transactions. Unlike theft or coercion, exchange is a peaceful way to get things you want. It is based on a mutual agreement between the trading partners. Given the alternative methods of personal enrichment mentioned, people can be expected to exchange views on when and where alternatives appear less attractive. This is generally the case when people meet in a normative, legal and institutional framework that defines and enforces property rights, whereas even in the absence of a common normative order, people may have prudent reasons to pursue their interests through exchanges and not through violent methods. As Max Weber (1978, p. 640) put it, even someone who prefers to take without pay, as he can, can choose to trade peacefully, where he is “confronted with a power that corresponds to his own,” or where he believes it is wise to do so in the interest of future exchanges that might otherwise be threatened. Indeed, the interest in exploiting the potential benefits of trade outside the hereditary community can be seen as the main driver of the development of a normative and legal order that goes beyond traditional community boundaries.

Weber (1978, p. 637) put it this way: “The market is a relationship that transcends the boundaries of neighbourhood, kinship or tribe. Originally, it was actually the only peaceful relationship of its kind. There are two general remedies for breach or breach of a mutual contract: a court may order cash damages – the party who has not performed must repay the other party financially – or may order the vulnerable party to work as it has announced under the terms of the contract.