Contract

A contract is a voluntary agreement that transfers Ownership of a scarce thing from one agent to a different agent. The transfer occurs now, or on a stated condition. A contract moves property. It does not bind the will. A promise alone makes no debt, and this is true also when a different agent trusted it. But words, acts, and the conditions of a deal can move ownership, if they show that intention. There are no necessary words, and there are no words that agents must not use. Persons can enforce a contract because ownership moved: the thing is now the property of the receiver, and to keep it back is Theft. A transfer can wait on a condition, for example money when the thing arrives, or a set transfer of value on failure. A condition can also move a stated thing if the agent does not give the value. The parties can set each condition to which they both consent. If the condition does not occur, no ownership moved, and no person has a claim. Labor cannot be the thing that a contract transfers, because no agent can transfer their will, as Self-Ownership shows. Thus a contract for a Service transfers money when the agent completes the work, and it does not transfer the person. An agent who does not do the work does not earn the money.