Re:Global capital is the tail that wags the U.S. economic dog
by Judgmentality on Friday October 02, 2020 @12:55PM
(#24664540)
But information traveled as slowly as people then, unless we're talking about short distances that pigeons could cover (or I guess something equivalent to the pony express, but that seems unlikely). They still had to send a courier to actually deliver the message to exchange the money, and there may very well have been a requirement of receiving this message (otherwise how would you know that the money hadn't already been moved since there can be a weeks to months long delay between messages)?
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Re:Global capital is the tail that wags the U.S. economic dog
by brobdingnagians on Friday October 02, 2020 @01:05PM
(#24664660)
I think one of the major benefits of it is that you can send one courier with information about the passwords and money amounts, without having to send a wagon or boat load of specie. That one person can travel much faster than a caravan and there is no risk of theft. A caravan takes large amounts of preparation and is a target for robbers.
Re:Global capital is the tail that wags the U.S. economic dog
by pratik661 on Friday October 02, 2020 @02:10PM
(#24665313)
Human travelers need rest. Horses get tired, etc. A message can be transferred to a fresh courier. In fact the ancient Persian empire had a system where horses were stationed at regular intervals so that a message could travel across the empire without halting.