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The British East India company was a government actor. It’s silly to consider them otherwise simply because it was technically a “joint-stock company.” It was p
by baddox 6y ago
The British East India company was a government actor. It’s silly to consider them otherwise simply because it was technically a “joint-stock company.” It was part of the government. Wikipedia even notes:
> Originally chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies"
- nindalf 6y ago> It was part of the government. It was not. It did not answer to Parliament, only to its shareholders. It has the best of both worlds though, because many powerful MPs were shareholders. So they got govt protection without govt oversight.
- redis_mlc 6y agoWell ... why do you think the British Navy was the biggest in the world? To protect trade.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoYou're definitely focusing on the wrong bit.