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The Dutch East India Company is often considered integral to the history of capitalism, if not the start of capitalism itself, and was granted a 21-year monopol
by JoeJonathan 4y ago
The Dutch East India Company is often considered integral to the history of capitalism, if not the start of capitalism itself, and was granted a 21-year monopoly on trade by the Dutch government.
- JackFr 4y agoThe real reason the Dutch East India Company is integral to the history of capitalism has less to do with trade and more to do with the innovative legal structure which for the first time separated the owners from the managers, and unlike all prior enterprises allowed for tradable claims on the ownership in the form of equity shares rather than an ownership governed by a partnership. The problem with using 'capitalism' in discussions like this is that there isn't a precise definition of it. To some people it simply means private ownership of the means of production, to others in includes free trade, to others (and to my thinking, the most precise, but YMMV) its about the separation of management and ownership and tradable claims on the firm.
- scatters 4y agoThe Pythagoreans are often considered integral to the history of mathematics, if not the start of mathematics itself, and they murdered the guy who proved that the square root of two is irrational.
- ahoy 4y agoAnd are they not still mathematicians?