Finance

 

In the 15th century, the world of Tear is in the process of transitioning from a feudal economic system to a mercantilist sysem. In such a system, individual states move away from internal self-sufficiency toward a trade dependent economic model. This allows states to better optimize productivity by aligning it more closely with their available natural resources, and then trade with neighbouring states for goods and resources they do not have or produce themselves. The goal of the state in a mercantilist society is to export more than they need to import - thus generating wealth.

In a world transitioning to a global mercantile economy, a finance industry becomes increasingly important. As goods move, money must also move, and just as states seek to generate wealth by optimizing for the exchange of goods through trade, banks seek to generate wealth by optimizing for the exchange of money. This inevitably leads to the invention of new financial instruments.