EconAir

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   Founded in 1600, the English East India Company (EIC), like its Dutch equivalent the United Netherlands East India Company (VOC, from the Dutch initials) was an innovative new type of corporation. It was a model for the limited-liability, stockholder-owned and funded modern corporation. The EIC and the VOC were early prototypes for the modern multinational corporation. Originally created as a company to develop profitable long-distance trade, the EIC evolved into a political organization that controlled or dominated about two-thirds of the Indian subcontinent by the early 1800s. The EIC and the Navigation Acts were the starting points for England's naval dominance and colonial empire. The large increase in England's income and we...

  INTRODUCTION   Japan gets special consideration because it is further along the declining population curve than any other large country. It has the oldest population (highest average age) in the world. It has one of the world's lowest birth rates. Unless there are major changes in healthcare technology, immigration, public policy, and birth rates, most industrialized countries will follow Japan down the path of declining and aging populations, and smaller labor forces. Japan's birth rate is about half the replacement rate. This has continued since 1974. The country's population has fallen by 3 million people in the last five years.  The country’s birthrate hit a record low in 2025, and the Japanese population, now 123.8 million, is projected to fall below 100 million by 2060. Japan’s population peaked in 2008 at 128 million and is projected to fall to 87 million by 2070. The country is now roughly the same size it was in 1989. There are two deaths for every birth. ...