A traditional economy is a loosely defined term sometimes used for older economic systems in economics and anthropology. It may imply that an economy is not deeply connected to wider regional trade networks; that many or most members engage in

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occu ...

, possibly being a

subsistence economy A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing and shelter) rather than to the market. Definition "Subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself and family at a minimum level. Basic subsiste ...

; that

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

is used to a greater frequency than in developed economies; that there is little governmental oversight of the economy, that at least some taxes might be in the form of goods or corvée labor rather than money; or some combination of the above. Aspects of traditional economies often carry forward into the "modern" economies they become, though; it is not uncommon for a traditional economy that heavily centers the role of tribes and families in distributing wealth to continue keeping a large role for them even after connections to outside trade are formed, at least if the original elite manage to keep their status rather than being displaced by an invasion or revolution or the like.

References

Economic systems {{econ-system-stub

See also

References