Understand the past to shape the future better

Trade history

In human society, we give and exchange what we need to maintain life is an indispensable daily activity of each individual. More than that, from the perspective of the entire human race, commercial exchanges have become such an indispensable part of today’s world, so much so that each person forgets to depend on them so much that Come on. Just take a minute looking around the room you are sitting in, or look through the top of your desk and ask yourself how much of it is made by you yourself, and you have the answer. word. How commercial activities have an impact on the history of human society is summarized in the book: Trade history – How trade shaped the world ? (Original name : A splendid exchange: How trade shaped the world ) by William J. Bernstein. He is a neuroscientist, an expert in financial and investment theory, and also a researcher in economic history. The book focuses on two main contents: the first is the formation and development of commercial activities; The second is the impact of trade on the shaping of human society throughout history as well as the world today. WJBernstein recounts commercial history from the earliest steps, when people came up with the idea of ​​genius and it was also very natural to exchange what was in surplus for what they needed or liked but didn’t have, in when others have ego, it’s time for commerce to have shape and scale later on. The process of formation began from the cradle of human civilization in Mesopotamia to the formation of the oldest trade routes and then evolved into a complex network stretching from the Roman Empire in the west to the emperor. Han Empire in the East. Next was the disruption of East-West trade on the mainland as the two empires declined and Islam arose from the Middle East and spread influence, becoming the center of global trade for a long time. At the same time, maritime trade with the Indian Ocean was a major trade route that flourished, replacing the ancient Land Silk Road as the economic lifeblood of the world. Besides the overall picture of the ups and downs of trade history, WJBernstein analyzes the interaction between trade with political, social and other natural factors. For example, the geographical structural differences between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean lead to different economic-political, naval strategies thinking among Mediterranean civilizations (such as the Greek). Greece with civilizations participating in the Indian Ocean trading system (Islamic countries in the Middle East, Indian sub-states, Southeast Asia and China). At the same time, he offers interesting examples of times when economic, political and religious interests conflict, forcing rulers to make choices. For example, the famous story when Venice Governor Enrico Dandolo used all his tricks to bring the Crusader army to attack and sack Constantinople, Venice’s influential competitor, instead of attacking Egypt, his partner. commercial importance of Venice, as the Crusaders expected. And not only conscious human endeavors, but at times nature plays an important role in the course of history. The fourteenth century Black Death plague devastated both Christian Europe and the Muslim Middle East, but the consequences were different. The epidemic weakened feudalism in Europe, gave freedom of thought and trade a chance to develop, while at the same time making Islamic civilization severely irreversibly damaged, paving the way for turn in global trade advantage from East to West. In Trade history refers to characters, both famous and anonymous, who contributed to the making of commercial history. It was an anonymous Mesopotamian businessman whose letter on earth kept evidence of a transaction thousands of years ago. It was Vasco da Gama, it was Columbus, the restaurants that paved the way for Europe to regain control of the world. Or Richard Cobden, a pioneer in the fight for free trade thought in the UK in particular and around the world in general. Trading is not only about exchanging goods, but also about competing for the market, competing for monopoly on trading of goods with great profit. Contact between people belonging to far away countries also means the exchange of deadly pathogens. Merchant crews contributed to the spread of the Black Death in Europe. Spanish expeditions made many peoples of the Americas extinct because of the pathogens they carried. Competing for markets, fighting for strategic commodity resources has been the main cause of most wars from ancient times, from the Peloponnese to two bloody World Wars in the twentieth century. WJBernstein has neutrally recounted the story of commerce and its impact on human society, fully pointing out the bright and dark sides of this story. More importantly, we all know this is an ongoing story, and understanding the past is probably the best, if not the only, way to make the future of the dark side of trade possible. control is better, and on the bright side, commercial benefits bring people, to be promoted more thoroughly.