Financial Capital

Financial Capital, also known as economic capital, is money used by businesses in order to buy what they need to produce goods and services. It differs from real capital as it refers to funds provided by investors used to purchase the necessary items used to run a business. Real capital refers to those items used to run the business. Financial capital always comes at a price, usually interest which is determined by the time value of money. Capital contributed by the owner of the business is known as own capital and that which is borrowed from another institution is known as borrowed capital.

Financial capital is a liquid medium or mechanism that generates wealth or other capital. These liquidity requirements vary and there are various markets created to trade them on. There are four functions combined to create capital assets, these are: medium of exchange, standard of deferred payment, unit of account, and store of value. When the four functions are satisfied it is known as money and does not need to be traded on financial markets as there is no risk involved.

Sometimes financial capital investments are backed by the government from a closely regulated reserve. These investments are traded on the money market and reveals differences in probability of debt collection and store of value of that currency. Financial capital may be traded on bond markets or reinsurance markets with different degrees of trust in the social capital of the bond-owners and other entities that trade financial investments.

When these instruments have deferred payments there is usually a higher rate of interest than the standard rate paid by banks, those that contain fixed payment schedules and a uniform rate of interest are known as fixed income investments. A variable rate loan, such as a home mortgage, reflects the standard rates of deferred payment set by the prime rate and increased by some percentage.

The trades that take place in Financial markets consist of underlying assets that do not consist completely of financial capital investment, but move up and down in value in accordance with the trading of financial derivatives. Many things can affect the price of the financial capital investments that are sold in commodity markets such as boycotts, embargoes, and weather that effects production. Stock markets, on the other hand, are more affected by trust in corporate leaders such as capital from consumers, social capital, and internal organizational efficiency such as instructional capital and infrastructural capital.

The relationship between Financial capital and all other forms of capital is assumed in central bank policy and are characterized by a political economy. Therefore, the supply of money and regulations on financial capital are representative of a country and determine the allocation of labor. Legislature determining the increase or decrease of the money supply based on inflation or other means reflects the value of financial capital compared to the other types. All forms of capital are connected as the affects that inflation has on financial capital reflects all other forms of capital as well.