ABSTRACT
Trade and markets of one form or another have always been part of human society. Borrowing and lending are similarly ancient and ubiquitous. On the other hand, markets for trade in financial obligations such as debts and future sales and purchases are specific to capitalism. The key financial institutions of capitalism such as fractional reserve banking, joint stock companies and regular markets for trade in government bonds date, in their modern form, from the eighteenth century, although precursors can be found as early as the fifteenth century in Italy and the Netherlands.
