Bank of England

Established in 1694; to act as the English Government's banker and debt manager

Banknote

Also called a bill, paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.

Barter

Exchange (goods or services) for other goods or services without using money.

Check

A written, dated, and signed draft that directs a bank to pay a specific sum of money to the bearer

Command Economy

Aka planned economy; type of economic system where the distribution of goods and services or the investment, production, etc., takes place according to economic plans

Commercialization

The process of managing or running something principally for financial gain

Common Land

Land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights,

Corporation

A large company or group of companies authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law.

Craft Guilds

Guilds made up of craftsmen and artisans in the same occupation

Credit

The trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately, but promises either to repay or return those resources

Economics

The study of scarcity and its implications for the use of resources, production of goods and services, growth of production and welfare over time

Enclosure

Closing off land for personal/private use and benefit

Feudalism

Combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe; Kings > Lords > Nobles > Peasants

Hanseatic League

Organization founded by north German towns and German merchant communities abroad to protect their mutual trading interests

Incentive

Motive that encourages someone to do or buy something

Joint-Stock Company

Business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders

Liberty

Being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.

Private Property

A legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities

Market Economy

An economic system in which individuals, rather than the state, own most of the resources

Mercantilism

A form of economic nationalism that sought to increase the prosperity and power of a nation through restrictive trade practices

Mint

A place where money is coined, especially under state authority

Minted Coins

Coins produced and minted as national currency

Natural Rights

Inevitable rights that everyone is born with; idea by John Locke

Profit

Financial gain

Proto-industrialization

The regional development, alongside commercial agriculture, of rural handicraft production for external markets

Tariffs

Custom tax imposed on imports

Trade

Action of buying and selling goods and services

Urbanization

Process of making an area more urban

Value

The agreed upon monetary worth of a good or service

Venture Capitalists

Investors who form limited partnerships to pool investment funds