My Question for Dr Taco Terpstra who is giving an online webinar tomorrow at the Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics about ‘Trade and Economic Growth in the Ancient World Economics, Trade’, is:

‘You are the author of “Trade in the Ancient Mediterranean: Private Order and Public Institutions” and “Trading Communities in the Roman World.”
The subject of your books reveals that people from different religions and cultures can co-exist in peace through international trade, provided there is a sophisticated and stable underlying political infrastructure/world order/network. Today international law and institutions are in tatters. The liberal world order is nearing collapse. However, a new “multi-polar” world order is emerging amongst members of the Global South – BRICS. So, what can history teach us about “Geopolitical convergence through international trade” and what lessons can the architects of BRICS derive from the ancient world about geopolitical convergence?’

Preface to my question:

International trade and finance engenders trust and co-operation between trading partners in different states. That is because interests converge through participation in a common commercial venture which has risks that must be shared and allocated between those who can benefit. This requires the creation of a financial infrastructure. For example, later in history, in medieval long-distance trade – whether it traversed international boundaries or whether it moved within the vast expanse of the medieval Islamic domain, required substantial investments of capital to cover the cost of acquiring goods at distant points, and of transporting them and caring for them until they were disposed of. The perilous conditions of both sea and land travel, the arbitrariness of political and military authorities and the unpredictable market conditions exposed such investments to grave risks. In Islam, it was the partnership and commenda contracts which were the two basic legal instruments through which the economic functions of the provision of capital resources for the formation of commercial investments, and the sharing of the risks of commercial ventures could be accomplished. However, we possess no documents or actual contracts of commenda and partnership arrangements for the first three Islamic centuries.

For information about the webinar see:

https://lnkd.in/eUJxrYhv

‘In this webinar, Taco Terpstra will speak on trade in the ancient world. He will further discuss premodern economic growth, and how to measure and achieve it, distinguishing between Smithian and Schumpeterian theories. His talk will address Roman innovation in the production process, including the role that slavery might have played. Taco will be joined by the Centre’s deputy Director, Professor Bill Hurst, who is convener of the Ancient Geopolitics series.’