In economics, a term used in two main senses, both of which refer to amounts at a given moment; opposed to flows, which refer to changes over time. 1 Stocks of goods (or inventories), are raw materials, fuels, or unsold products in store at a given date. 2 The term is also used to mean financial assets: in the UK, for example, government debt is called government stock, and is traded on the stock exchange; in the USA, company shares are called common stocks.
For other uses, see stock (disambiguation).The stocks are a device used since medieval times for public humiliation, corporal punishment, and torture. the difference, however, is that when a person is placed in the stocks, their feet are also locked in place, as well as their hands and head.
With stocks, boards are placed around the legs or the wrists, whereas in the pillory they are placed around the arms and neck and fixed to a pole.
The practice of using stocks continues to be cited as an example of cruel and unusual punishment.
Historical uses
The stocks were popular in medieval times as a mild restraining device for minor offenders.
Public stocks were typically positioned in the most public place available, as public humiliation was a critical aspect of such punishment.
The stocks were used in Elizabethan England, and by the Puritans in the colonial period of American history.
Finger pillories often went by the name of finger stocks
Stocks were also used as punishment for military deserters, or for dereliction of military duty.
Current uses
In the modern age, the stocks are still used in some countries as punishment and confinement devices.
The stocks have also taken on a lighter image, as they are often found at Renaissance Fairs where the public can experience a form of "stocks entertainment" by watching actors locked in the stocks.
Examples
An excellent example of stocks can be seen in Dromore, County Down, in Northern Ireland.
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