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East India company calls to say forget me not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_india_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_india_company The beginning

East India company calls to say forget me not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_india_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_india_company The beginnings of capitalism & colonialism. Systemic wealth transfer is not a mystery.

spacebanana7 2y ago
My personal view is that military adventures were generally a drag on economic growth that never paid for themselves. People at the time argued slavery, resource exploitation and trade were economically important and could only happen through imperial strength. But I’d argue that 1) those things generally happened anyway post independence 2) labour / resource costs aren’t that important for long run economic growth.
- temporarely 2y ago
  Sorry, but personal views? This is a matter of history. These companies made obscene profits for their owners. India and China were looted.
  - spacebanana7 2y ago
    It’s possible to loot and burn a country without creating much net economic value. William Jardine’s subjugation of China made him a lot of personal profit, but it’s dubious his enterprise ever paid enough tax to cover the cost of the opium war. Sending navies across the world is expensive.
    - throw0101d 2y ago
      > It’s possible to loot and burn a country without creating much net economic value. And remember: pillage before you burn…
tim333 2y ago
Aside from wealth transfer capitalism is good for raising money for new ventures. Some of that kicked off around then eg. >The Muscovy Company was the first major chartered joint stock English trading company. It was established in 1555 and profitable ventures eg. by Sir Francis Drake >Drake returned to England in 1580 and became a hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received a return of some 5,000 per cent. which may be increased enthusiasm for ventures. That maybe incentivized people to get rich starting steam engine companies, somewhat like how SV works today, but not like that in ancient Rome? Guessing a bit here. I'm not a historian. Quotes from Wikipedia. I did to a visit to Lincolnshire a while back to research some family history of relatives who were there in the 1800s and while the place is a backwater now, it was very SV like back in 1850 with people getting rich quick and building huge houses based on the then tech boom with was railway engines.

spacebanana7 2y ago

My personal view is that military adventures were generally a drag on economic growth that never paid for themselves. People at the time argued slavery, resource exploitation and trade were economically important and could only happen through imperial strength. But I’d argue that 1) those things generally happened anyway post independence 2) labour / resource costs aren’t that important for long run economic growth.

temporarely 2y ago
Sorry, but personal views? This is a matter of history. These companies made obscene profits for their owners. India and China were looted.
- spacebanana7 2y ago
  It’s possible to loot and burn a country without creating much net economic value. William Jardine’s subjugation of China made him a lot of personal profit, but it’s dubious his enterprise ever paid enough tax to cover the cost of the opium war. Sending navies across the world is expensive.
  - throw0101d 2y ago
    > It’s possible to loot and burn a country without creating much net economic value. And remember: pillage before you burn…

tim333 2y ago

Aside from wealth transfer capitalism is good for raising money for new ventures. Some of that kicked off around then eg. >The Muscovy Company was the first major chartered joint stock English trading company. It was established in 1555 and profitable ventures eg. by Sir Francis Drake >Drake returned to England in 1580 and became a hero; his circumnavigation raised an enormous amount of money for England's coffers, and investors received a return of some 5,000 per cent. which may be increased enthusiasm for ventures. That maybe incentivized people to get rich starting steam engine companies, somewhat like how SV works today, but not like that in ancient Rome? Guessing a bit here. I'm not a historian. Quotes from Wikipedia. I did to a visit to Lincolnshire a while back to research some family history of relatives who were there in the 1800s and while the place is a backwater now, it was very SV like back in 1850 with people getting rich quick and building huge houses based on the then tech boom with was railway engines.