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Reflections on the Economic Revolution
The "Economic Revolution" Heilbronner described transformed the European economic system from feudalism to capitalism. This change is best seen in the current assumptions that businesses make and contrasting them with what was believed in the years before and during this revolution. The assumptions that are made are used to define terms of modern economic studies and practices. Therefore, the birth of capitalism was also the birth of a new vocabulary to identify its properties. While Heilbronner focused on the ideas of labor, land and capital; the ideas of how to generate profit from content employees, and research and development and the use of bookkeeping are equally important. Thus, the previous uses of these concepts were vital in the conversion from feudal to capitalistic society.
Primarily of course in today's business life is the idea that companies exist to make money, or a profit. The term profit simply means the amount of revenue that remains after accounting for all expenses. This was the underlying focus of the Zodiac study, and the choices made were how best to make a profit for the shareholders. However, before the economic revolution, "The idea of ?making a living' had not yet come into being. Economic life and social life were one and the same thing. Work was not yet a means to an end ? the end being money and the things it buys. Work was end in itself" (Heilbronner 26). Therefore, although the term profit had the same meaning, it had a negative connotation. A minister even accused a parishioner of a "heinous crime: he has made over a ...