BIS Review 122/2006  1  But equally, the potential technological advance would have remained just that – potential, rather than actual – had there not been a capacity to mobilise the financial resources needed to invest in the equipment embodying the new technology.
The capital required for an economy based on agriculture and artisan-based manufacturing had been in the form of land, seed, basic tooling and the like. Traders needed working capital in order to purchase goods in one place and move them to another for sale, and various financial devices arose to assist this.