Economic Principles and Concepts
Capitalism - economic system based on business/industry owned by investors (usually through publically traded stocks) and operated for profit (freequently but not necessarily coexistent with a Free Market System)
Columbian Exchange - the diffusion of commodities, people, ideas, and diseases that occurred as a result of contact between the Euroasian Continent and the Americas (so called because it resulted from Columbus' discovery, NOT because Columbus himself did the exchanging)
Communism - see government section
Comparative Advantage - what a country is well set up to produce; relates to Adam Smith's assertion that, for example, instead of Scotland producing wine, it should produce wool and sell it to buy wine from Italy
Debt Service - the cost of maintaining a debt, essentially interest payments.
Deficit - the gap between revenues and expenses (in a given year, for example)
Entrepreneur - a person who, recognizing an economic opportunity for a new market or product, takes on the risk of starting a new business
Free Market System - describes an economic system which allows prices to be set by the law of supply and demand with minimal government involvment, under the premise that the power of market competition will meet society's needs most efficiently - the best product at the cheapest price. Particulary associated with Adam Smith and his book The Wealth of Nations
Ghetto - during the Renaissance, walled areas in which Jews were required to live
Government Bond - the primary way governments deal with their debt, that is borrowing from individuals by selling them a promise (a bond) to pay back the money with interest
Guild - associated with the free towns of the High Middle Ages (in contrast to the self-sufficient manors), an organization of merchants or craftsmen who set standards and regulations within their craft and often held political power in their towns
Inflation - an *increase in prices (which is pretty much the same thing as a drop in the value of currency); can be rapid, and can become a positive feed-back loop spiral
Joint Stock Company - a structure making it possible for multiple investors to share the risk and rewards of a venture; a foundation of a Capitalist economic system
Laissez-Faire - a French phrase that translates as "let do" or "allow it to do its own thing" that is associated with Free Market systems with minimal government manipulation
Lord - the guy above you in a feudal system
Manorialism - an economic system based on self-sufficient villages (manors), characteristic of the Middle Ages. It develops when trade is difficult or unsafe (like, there's no infrastructure), and it's a natural companion of Feudalism. Here's a link to a standard rendering of a Medieval Feudal Manor.
Mercantilism - the economic philosophy based on the idea that the State (government) should manipulate overseas trade to accumulate as much gold and silver as possible. This was the dominant strategy in the early years after the discovery of the New World. Because it is state managed, it contrasts with Free Market Capitalism
Patron - a supporter of the arts
Primogeniture - the practice of granting an entire inheritance to the eldest son; this was done to keep a family's holdings intact through many generations....does lead to some envious younger sons, though
Serf - a peasant who (unlike a slave) is "tied to the land"'
Vassal - the guy below you in a feudal system
Columbian Exchange - the diffusion of commodities, people, ideas, and diseases that occurred as a result of contact between the Euroasian Continent and the Americas (so called because it resulted from Columbus' discovery, NOT because Columbus himself did the exchanging)
Communism - see government section
Comparative Advantage - what a country is well set up to produce; relates to Adam Smith's assertion that, for example, instead of Scotland producing wine, it should produce wool and sell it to buy wine from Italy
Debt Service - the cost of maintaining a debt, essentially interest payments.
Deficit - the gap between revenues and expenses (in a given year, for example)
Entrepreneur - a person who, recognizing an economic opportunity for a new market or product, takes on the risk of starting a new business
Free Market System - describes an economic system which allows prices to be set by the law of supply and demand with minimal government involvment, under the premise that the power of market competition will meet society's needs most efficiently - the best product at the cheapest price. Particulary associated with Adam Smith and his book The Wealth of Nations
Ghetto - during the Renaissance, walled areas in which Jews were required to live
Government Bond - the primary way governments deal with their debt, that is borrowing from individuals by selling them a promise (a bond) to pay back the money with interest
Guild - associated with the free towns of the High Middle Ages (in contrast to the self-sufficient manors), an organization of merchants or craftsmen who set standards and regulations within their craft and often held political power in their towns
Inflation - an *increase in prices (which is pretty much the same thing as a drop in the value of currency); can be rapid, and can become a positive feed-back loop spiral
Joint Stock Company - a structure making it possible for multiple investors to share the risk and rewards of a venture; a foundation of a Capitalist economic system
Laissez-Faire - a French phrase that translates as "let do" or "allow it to do its own thing" that is associated with Free Market systems with minimal government manipulation
Lord - the guy above you in a feudal system
Manorialism - an economic system based on self-sufficient villages (manors), characteristic of the Middle Ages. It develops when trade is difficult or unsafe (like, there's no infrastructure), and it's a natural companion of Feudalism. Here's a link to a standard rendering of a Medieval Feudal Manor.
Mercantilism - the economic philosophy based on the idea that the State (government) should manipulate overseas trade to accumulate as much gold and silver as possible. This was the dominant strategy in the early years after the discovery of the New World. Because it is state managed, it contrasts with Free Market Capitalism
Patron - a supporter of the arts
Primogeniture - the practice of granting an entire inheritance to the eldest son; this was done to keep a family's holdings intact through many generations....does lead to some envious younger sons, though
Serf - a peasant who (unlike a slave) is "tied to the land"'
Vassal - the guy below you in a feudal system