Did You Know? Money and Economics Facts

Before money was invented, people swapped goods directly, which is called barter.

The oldest known coins were made in the kingdom of Lydia, in today's Turkey, around 600 BC.

Saving a small amount regularly helps you reach big goals.

A budget is a plan for how you will spend your money and how much you will save.

Banks keep people's money safe and offer services such as transfers and payments.

Needs, such as food and a home, come before wants, such as toys.

The Jordanian dinar is divided into 100 piastres, or 1,000 fils.

Many believe the word 'salary' is linked to the Latin word for salt.

Gold has been used to trade and to store wealth for thousands of years.

The first cash machine (ATM) opened in London in 1967.

A money box is a simple way for children to start saving.

When many people want to buy the same thing and there isn't much of it, its price usually goes up.

The barcode on a product helps a shop find its price quickly at the till.

Some coins were made with ridged edges in the past to stop people shaving off the precious metal.

The first general-purpose payment card for restaurants and shops appeared in 1950.

Each country has its own currency, such as the Jordanian dinar, the Saudi riyal and the Egyptian pound.

Banknotes have security features, such as watermarks and security threads, to stop forgery.

Comparing prices before you buy helps you save money.

Taxes help the state build schools, hospitals and roads.

The word 'dinar' comes from the Roman coin called the 'denarius'.

Paper money was first used in China about a thousand years ago.

Inflation means prices rise over time, so money buys less.

The central bank is the body that issues a country's national currency.

The Central Bank of Jordan began operating in 1964.

Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of all the goods and services a country produces in a year.

A stock market is where people buy and sell small shares in the ownership of companies.

The Amsterdam exchange, which began in 1602, is often called the world's first modern stock market.

The Islamic gold dinar was first minted under Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan around 696 CE.

The Saudi riyal has been pegged to the US dollar at 3.75 riyals since 1986.

A recession is a period when the economy shrinks, often defined as two quarters of decline in a row.

Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations' (1776) is one of the founding books of economics.

In the 'Muqaddimah', Ibn Khaldun discussed economic topics such as taxes, the value of labour and their effect on civilisation.

Digital payments, such as cards and mobile wallets, are gradually replacing cash in many countries.

The unemployment rate is the share of people looking for work who cannot find it.

Opportunity cost is what you give up when you choose one thing instead of another.

Wholesalers sell large amounts to other traders, while retailers sell small amounts to consumers.

An entrepreneur is someone who starts a new business and takes on its risks.

The Great Depression began in 1929 with the crash of the US stock market.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods conference.

Euro notes and coins went into people's hands on 1 January 2002.

A monopoly is when a single company controls a market with no competitors.

Some currencies are used beyond their borders; the US dollar is used in much international trade.

'Gresham's law' says that bad money drives good money out of circulation.

The United States stopped converting dollars into gold in 1971, ending the system that tied currencies to gold.

Fiscal policy is about government spending and taxes, while monetary policy is run by the central bank.

In the 15th century al-Maqrizi wrote about money and rising prices in Mamluk Egypt.

Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe in 2008 became so extreme that a 100-trillion Zimbabwean-dollar note was issued.

The World Trade Organization was founded in 1995.

In 1817 the economist David Ricardo explained 'comparative advantage', which shows why trade between countries pays off.

John Maynard Keynes published 'The General Theory' in 1936, and it strongly shaped economic policy.

The consumer price index measures inflation by tracking the prices of a 'basket' of goods and services.

An economy is split into a primary sector (raw materials), a secondary sector (manufacturing) and a tertiary sector (services).

Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for giving small loans to poor people.

In 1986 The Economist created the 'Big Mac Index' as a simple way to compare the buying power of currencies.

Price elasticity of demand measures how much the amount people buy changes when the price changes.

A market where prices are rising is called a 'bull market', and one where they are falling a 'bear market'.

Stockholms Banco in Sweden issued Europe's first bank-issued banknotes in 1661.

The Medici family bank in Florence was one of the most powerful banks in 15th-century Europe.

The word 'economy' comes from a Greek word meaning 'managing a household'.

The Nobel Prize in Economics was first awarded in 1969.

GDP per person is calculated by dividing GDP by the population.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for research on how people make financial decisions.