Markets began to come into their own as a major orchestrating force only as feudalism began to fade from Western Europe. While markets are themselves a social institution, they are a peculiar social institution. Even today we can find examples of this. Think of the many market forces that impinge on the stability of family life. Moving to seek better employment destroys the extended family.
Child care becomes a commodity purchased on the market rather than provided at home.
New products such as TV, VCRs, video games and drive-through fast food outlets displace traditional family activities. When material life, through market forces, begins to break many of the ties it had with other aspects of social life we can speak of the economy as something somewhat separate from, although interlinked with, the community's social structure or political structure. With markets also comes capitalism. Once labor has broken its traditional ties to the landed estate or to the craft guild and becomes something that is bought and sold on the market like a pound of pepper or a yard of cloth, the road is clear for capitalism. Guild traditions no longer govern the weaving of the cloth.