EconAir

  INTRODUCTION   The English East India Company (EIC) was an innovative new type of corporation. It is a model for the modern limited-liability, stockholder-funded modern corporation. The EIC also illustrates that the prototype of the modern corporation was created to develop global trade.   HISTORIC BACKGROUND   The creation of the EIC and its Dutch equivalent (the VOC) were part of the 400 year expansion of European power, trade, and influence. Much  of the rest of the world became colonies, part of imperial empires. By 1600, both England and Holland had a wealthy merchant and shipping class, bankers, substantial liquid capital (wealth) not tied up in land, and risk-takers. These categories overlapped. Both countries had limited monarchies. In England, the king and Parliament were about to begin a long struggle for power. In Holland , the monarch was mostly subservient to Holland's powerful and wealthy merchant class. THE EIC: STRUCTURE AND STRATEGY The East I...

All Together Now, Comrades Robot Production and Use in 2024 This is a summary of 2024 statistics from Google AI. Most of the numbers come from the annual report of the International Federation of Robotics. In 2024,  over 542,000 industrial robots were installed globally. This was  a 10% increase from the previous year, with Asia leading installations. China became the largest single market and manufacturer for the first time. China's domestic market share grew to 57%, surpassing foreign suppliers. Other notable trends included a 30% worldwide increase in professional service robot sales and a growing trend in digital twins for robot optimization.   Global Industrial Robot Production and Installation   Global installations:  Installations have been over 500,000 for the last four years, with no trend in growth. Regional dominance:  Asia accounted for 74% of new deployments, with Europe at 16% and the Americas at 9%. Top markets:  China was the largest m...