5 ms·
I don't think 'corporation' is a required title for the concept to apply. Large command-oriented economic drivers have existed for a long time. The Roman army
by gills 18y ago
I don't think 'corporation' is a required title for the concept to apply. Large command-oriented economic drivers have existed for a long time. The Roman army was one, it's economic function the looting of conquered territory. Notice that when it could no longer accomplish that function, things began to turn south for Rome.
We are observing the decentralization of economic authority, common throughout history, but usually a side-effect of economic decline and/or societal collapse; maybe more correctly a side-effect of the movement from specialized occupations back to subsistence farming.
This decentralization seems to be different, and appears to be driven by the unprecedented communication, access to information, and wide audience granted by the Internet.
- taw 18y agoThings didn't "turn south" for Rome after it stopped its conquests. Rome pretty much stopped conquering in 27 BCE, and lasted five centuries afterward (or 1480 years if you count Eastern Roman Empire), the first two being very peaceful and prosperous. Plunder was never a large part of any country's GDP in the long term, there's simply not that much stuff to plunder, and it's a very inefficient process, with a lot more value destroyed than transferred. Taxation and trade are much better ways of extracting money from people and that's what Romans did.