트랜스미러: tenses// another example for tenses and situation times

REF: Inner Lives of Markets, p. 127

Tenses in turns of sentences and their intertwining with situation times are always not easy to grasp. Here is another example:

In the following example, turns of tenses seem to flow like: Indicative present (introducing indicative past) ~ future in the past ~ subjunctive past

These rules help explain why the merchants of London capitulated to the fair wardens' demand so quickly. Getting booted out of the fair would be the equivalent of being blacklisted from Amazon in a world where that was the only way of reaching your customers, which isn't that far from the circumstances businesses operates in today. Devastating. Their businesses would have collapsed.

─ 1. The first sentence begins with its main verb at indicative present, 'help explain', then introduces a past situation with indicative past: 'the merchants of London capitulated...'

─ 2. The second sentence may be seen as London merchants' uttering in the past, described (captured, or interpreted) by the speaker:

• "Getting booted out of the fair will be the equivalent of being blacklisted...", [thought the merchants of London at the time.] →
• Getting booted out of the fair would be the equivalent of being blacklisted... in a world where that was the only way of...

Here, a future in the past('would be') is situated in the frame of a past situation (indicative past, 'was')

─ 3. Then, in the same second sentence, the speaker assesses that future-in-the-past description ('would be' with 'was') with his positioning at indicative present ('which isn't...').

─ 4. The third sentence, 'Devastating', seems to continue 'future in the past': [Getting booted out of the fair would be] [d]evastaging.

─ 5. Finally, the last sentence is concluded with subjunctive past : [If they had gotten booted out of the fair,] 'Their business would have collapsed.'