Jevons’ term: both parties must want each other’s goods simultaneously.
A system of exchange where goods or services are traded directly for other goods or services without the use of a medium of exchange, such as money.
Social exchange based on future obligation.
Centralized collection/re-allocation by elites.
Early IOUs; debts recorded in standardized units (~3400–3100 BCE).
Core money functions lacking in commodities.
Proto-cuneiform ledgers (~3400–3100 BCE); world’s first writing.
First standardized medium of exchange (~3500 BCE).
Stepped temple tower; economic & religious center.
Value measured in fixed units (e.g., 1 shekel = 8.3g silver).
Value from material itself (silver, gold).
Stable shares (utilities, staples) in crises.
A historical period characterized by the use of bronze and the development of early urban civilizations and trade networks.
Symbolic money (~1200 BCE onward). Seashells used as money - portable, durable, limited.
Value from social agreement, not utility.
Durability, portability, divisibility, counterfeit resistance, limited supply.
No central authority; value from consensus.
Money as a shared belief system.
Digital assets backed by code and trust.
Major Sumerian city; center of trade & law.
Source of silver & copper.
Item accepted to facilitate trade.
King (~2112–2095 BCE); author of first law code.
Oldest known law code; standardized shekel.
Official weight standards for fair trade.
Value fixed by law.
Modern state-backed units.
State guarantee of quality/weight.
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