Insights from history: The next great empire

An analysis of the evolution of the phenomenon of Empire is presented, together with some general observations on the nature of empires. It is concluded that empires are becoming more frequent and larger in size. Extrapolation of the results leads to some intriguing speculations about the future.     

The organization of Eastern merchant empires

In the sixteenth century, European countries engaged in long-distance trade with the East. Despite sharing the same objectives and technology, Portugal opted for a crown monopoly, England, the Netherlands, and Sweden franchised trade to private merchants, whereas in Denmark and France, king and merchants shared control. The financial condition of the crown appears to have been relevant for the monarchs' decision. I provide an economic mechanism to illuminate the historical variation in terms of the differences in relative endowments of king and merchants within each country. I also explore the implications of control allocation using archival data on labor compensation and shipping technology. Differences in the long run performance of merchant empires suggest a major impact of organization.