Markets

On November 9, 1989, the people of Berlin joyously tore down the wall that for thirty years had divided their city. As the wall fell, so did communism and the planned economy. On April 30, 1995, the U.S. government ceased controlling the Internet. As entrepreneurs devised procedures for online buying and selling, electronic commerce burgeoned. These two dates denote the beginning of what has become, for good or ill, the age of the market.

John McMillan, Reinventing the Bazaar, 2002 (p. 4)

Both dates are well into the Third Turning, the time of individual freedom.  Not really a surprise.

Reinventing the Bazaar: A Natural History of Markets is a very good introduction on what markets are and what they require to operate properly. The "reinventing" part is an acknowledgement that markets are created in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons, even if all their forms have fundamental similarities to the bazaars where people buy food, trinkets, clothes.

For a deeper look, seek out Markets and Hierarchies by Oliver Williamson, which compares markets with another way for processing information: Instead of everyone getting information on actual value from prices, one person makes a decision based on the information available, then requires others to follow that decision - to allow that one person to be in charge. In the market, that is, every individual makes their decision on their own; the hierarchy, decisions are made by a leader. (Both options have their advantages in particular areas.)

Which, if it wasn't clear, was why it makes sense that "the age of the market" started in the Third Turning, the time of greatest individual freedom.