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Re:How did Europe become the richest part of the world? by realusername on Sunday March 20, 2022 @09:18AM (#30742393)
What people don't get is at the time, the state power mattered more than companies, territorial expansion and reach was one of the prime goal.
Re:How did Europe become the richest part of the world? by eesmith on Sunday March 20, 2022 @10:46AM (#30743034)
British and Dutch colonialism were public-private joint affairs. The VOC was the first company to raise capital by selling stocks. Jamestown (first permanent English settlement in the Americas) was settled by the London Company, under Crown charter.

Compare that to the Spanish colonialism, where state power indeed mattered more than companies.

Re:How did Europe become the richest part of the world? by realusername on Sunday March 20, 2022 @12:21PM (#30743982)
Yeah that's kind of the big difference I'd say between British and Dutch colonialism and French and Spanish colonialism. On the French empire, the state had almost all the power and territorial expansion was on everybody's mind.

Not that makes it better but it's essential to bring it back in the context.