|
|
Article: Trading places. (History).
- Article from:
- Canada and the World Backgrounder
- Article date:
- May 1, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Canada & the World. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Ancient Greece had its emporion. In Rome, traders gathered at the collegium mercatorum. Today, just about every country has its stock exchange.
These modern exchanges date from the trading centres that began in the 13th century in the commercial cities of Italy and Flanders (Belgium). These were true exchanges, where a sheep might be exchanged for several sacks of grain. Then, in Antwerp, Belgium someone thought why not just exchange notes promising to deliver the sheep or grain? That was in 1531, and it saved people the bother of bringing bulky and disobedient goods to the exchange.
The trading of shares in businesses had to wait until the creation of ...