A projector in the business context is an individual who promotes a project or scheme to combine public benefit and private profit. The term came into use in sixteenth century

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and remained in popular language until the nineteenth century when it fell from use. The term has often been used pejoratively.

Early use of the term

This use of the term projector emerged during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

(1558–1603). In previous decades bureaucratic initiatives to stimulate domestic production were already referred to as projects. When rising prices and unemployment marked the early years of Elizabeth I’s reign, the government sought a remedy in the expansion of domestic manufacturing and thus the role of the projector emerged. The issue of chartered patents for new projects provided monopolies and privileges for potential projectors, who thus played an important role in developing economic activity.

The Age of Projectors

The re-organisation of the state following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

of 1688 – particularly in regard to new fiscal arrangements such as the creation of Europe’s first widely circulating credit currency – inaugurated the "Age of Projectors". In 1693

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

wrote '' An Essay Upon Projects'' in which he declared that he was living in a "Projecting Age". Many proposals combined the prospect of military conquest with that of commercial expansion.

References

{{reflist Business terms Projectors (business)