Question: What would happen if...

I'm always wondering how the "economy" works, and was talking to a few others about it. I aksed, "What if we stopped opening chests, and slavaged all loot we didn't like, or want, but kept it and didn't sell it (salvaged resources) to the merchants? Would the price they pay for it go up, or would it stay the same no matter what?" In other words is the economy fixed in most areas and only a few (Amber, Jade, Ectos, dye etc..) fluctuate?

Then you get a deflation

There are pre-determined boundries for trader goods. They all fluctuate within their limits.

So, in answer to your question...

If everyone stopped selling <whatever> to the traders and people were still buying <whatever> from the traders, the price of <whatever> would rise to it's pre-determined maximum until it's sold out.

Note: These pre-determined boundries aren't set in stone, they shift depending on the market, too. During GW:Faction's release, minor runes of vigor were capped at 300g, after repeatedly being sold out, their maximum value in the trader gradually rose. Perhaps ANet just modified it's value manually, or perhaps there's some system in place to do it for them. Meh.

Ps. Buying from/Selling to traders counters inflation by taking money out of the econemy. If people stopped using traders, you'd get increased inflation.

Disclaimer: The above may or may not be entirely fictional.