Transcending Transaction examines recent attempts to show how, in theory and history, market transaction can emerge from the unregulated interaction of competitive traders.

Introduction: a world they never made 1 Getting markets started: transactions, trade and trust 2 Legal foundations: contract rules and property rights 3 Epistemological foundations: information and knowledge 4 Ontological foundations: technology and culture 5 Organisational foundations: companies and capitals 6 Corporate foundations: markets versus managerialism 7 Financial foundations: credit, insurance and money