Business History

History of business & finance. The concepts of business and finance have been an integral facet of human activity since the development of the earliest civilizations. The earliest business transactions were based on a system of trade known as the barter system. In the barter system, prior to the emergence of systems of currency, goods were exchanged for other goods that were deemed to be of similar value. After the development of currency, goods were exchanged or sold for an agreed upon value in the form of money. The goods and the currency were thus interchangeable, so when goods were not plentiful, replacements could be readily purchased by using currency. The links included herein relate to the history and the human experience of business and finance.