THE image of the market-rigging commodity speculator of modern folklore lies somewhere between moustache-twirling pantomime villain and James Bond's evil nemesis ("When I press this button the price of molybdenum will treble, the world will be destroyed and I will be rich, rich, rich!").
The cult of celebrity has flagged up that most coveted commodity of the modern age: privacy.
"Data is everything – information really is the most valuable commodity of the modern organisation," says Fraser.
It's a major commodity of a modern age.
Since the introduction of phenoformaldehyde plastic in 1909 by Leo Hendrik Baekeland, petrochemical plastics have developed into a major industry and an indispensable commodity for modern life (Meikle, [1995]).
Sustainability does not depend only on sustainable fuels but also on sustainability of other commodities for modern societies.
Data has become one of the most valuable commodities for modern businesses.
Over the last year, the group has created task forces to reduce costs, and strategic groups across companies to deal with a market situation they have never seen: The yo-yoing of commodity prices, closure of modern trade stores and the move of some consumers to smaller pack sizes and lesser known brands.
Rather than raw materials, it now transports commodities of the modern economy: ideas, people, social and cultural interactions.
It was as if, after every other designer showed real fur, he had decided it had become just another commodity, which is kind of modern when you think about it.
If the latest rise in oil prices isn't just another spike — like those of the 1970s and 1980s — but is instead a fundamental repricing of the commodity responsible for much of modern American life, the impact of that change will affect everyone from home builders and homeowners in exurbs to corporate leaders, landlords and commuters in cities.
