Money is a mystery and financial institutions are often regarded as guardians and promoters of the mystery. These sketches are designed to help an individual interested in, but not technically trained in economics, understand markets, money, credit and the evolution of a mass market Allocation by higher authority, autocracy: The first empire was formed about 2250 BC, by Sargon the Great, in Mesopotamia (Schrapkamp, 2013; Postgate, 1994). It was succeeded the world over by many empires all, in some form or the other with five broad categories of inhabitant: The aristocracy, the religious establishment, the warriors or army, the merchants and craftsmen and the laborers or peasantry. Modern versions of authoritarian rule have included dictatorships and theocratic structures in many forms. They all bear the feature that considerable allocation of physical resources and the division of power is by the dictates of the rulers. Allocation by fraud, deceit and other illegal activity: Force has been with the species Homo since its beginning, but in a hunter gatherer social structure the lack of records and the limits on communication make fraud and deceit far less effective as methods for the diversion of resources than in a complex record keeping (and forging) society. In a society such as the United States undoubtedly several billions are allocated in this manner. There are many definitional problems in the classification of fraud and crime. This is especially true in the area of "white collar crime," where the type of deceit and fraud is more gentlemanly than common theft. Allocation by custom, including gifts and inheritance: Custom accounts for a considerable amount of allocation, especially in more traditional societies. The church may collect its tithe with or without formal rules requiring its payment. In England and in other monarchies the king is entitled to certain resources. The size of tipping in different societies is basically a customdetermined method for allocating resources. Inheritance customs are extremely influential and gifts play an important role in distribution. At this point it is also important to note that it is not only goods and services that are distributed