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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, resour
by 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 agoSorry, but personal views? This is a matter of history. These companies made obscene profits for their owners. India and China were looted.
- spacebanana7 2y agoIt’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…