If A does something for B and trusts B to reciprocate in the future, this establishes an expectation in A and an obligation on the part of B. This obligation can be conceived as a credit slip held by A for performance by B. If A holds a large number of these credit slips, for a number of persons with whom A has relations, then the analogy to financial capital is direct. These credit slips constitute a large body of credit that A can call in if necessary-unless, of course, the placement of trust has been unwise, and these are bad debts that will not be repaid.

XREF: This anticipates the concept of social capital popularized by Bourdieu, Putnam, and Coleman. The economic metaphor maps directly onto those later frameworks.

Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, loc. 82