EconAir

        INTRODUCTION   In 1600, England had been an insular and agricultural nation, trading primarily with nearby northern Europe. By 1700, England’s commerce was complex and global, as London competed successfully with Amsterdam for American produce and Asian luxuries.   Alan Taylor,   American Colonies:  The Settling of North America, 258.   A theme that runs through this essay is the global maritime rivalry with Holland. England and Holland became global trade rivals in the 1600s. They fought three wars that weakened Holland and eliminated it as a naval rival.    England’s main instrument in its rivalry with the Dutch in Asia was the English East India Company (EIC). In America and the West Indies, it was the Navigation Acts.   By the end of the century, England was on its way to becoming a global maritime trading and naval power. The Dutch had lost out in North America but had established a vast trading network t...

The Mughal emperor Shah Alam hands a scroll to Robert Clive, the governor of Bengal, which transferred tax collecting rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the East India Company.  Illustration: Benjamin West (1738–1820)/British Library INTRODUCTION   The English East India Company (EIC) was an innovative new type of corporation. It was a model for the modern limited-liability, stockholder-funded modern corporation. The EIC also the prototype for the modern multinational corporation created to develop global trade. THE EIC: STRUCTURE AND STRATEGY The East India Company (EIC) was chartered in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth I to promote and monopolize English trade with Asia. England, a poor country in the 1600s but with colonial ambitions after defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588, outsourced its colonial ambitions to the East India Company and other private companies.    The East India Company was originally privately funded by 218 merchants and other investors. It was the ...