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A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World
A sweeping narrative history of world trade—from Sumer in 3000 BC to the firestorm over globalization today—that brilliantly explores trade’s colorful and contentious past and provides fresh insights into social, political, cultural, and economic history, as well as a timely assessment of trade’s future. Adam Smith wrote that man has an intrinsic “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.” But how did trade evolve to the point where we don’t think twice about biting into an apple from the other side of the world? In A Splendid Exchange , William J. Bernstein tells the extraordinary story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. He transports readers from ancient sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the sixteenth; from the rush for sugar that brought the British to Jamaica in 1655 to the American trade battles of the early twentieth century; from key innovations such as steam, steel, and refrigeration to the modern era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from China. Along the way, Bernstein examines how our age-old dependency on trade has contributed to our planet’s agricultural bounty, stimulated intellectual progress, and made us both prosperous and vulnerable. Although the impulse to trade often takes a backseat to xenophobia and war, Bernstein concludes that trade is ultimately a force for good among nations, and he argues that societies are far more successful and stable when they are involved in vigorous trade with their neighbors. Lively, authoritative, and astonishing in scope, A Splendid Exchange is a riveting narrative that views trade and globalization not in political terms, but rather as an evolutionary process as old as war and religion—a historical constant—that will continue to foster the growth of intellectual capital, shrink the world, and propel the trajectory of the human species.
467 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
1013 people are currently reading
8969 people want to read
About the author
William J. Bernstein
24 books465 followersWilliam J. Bernstein is an American financial theorist and neurologist. His research is in the field of modern portfolio theory and he has published books for individual investors who wish to manage their own equity portfolios. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 372 reviews
February 24, 2020
I finally finished!!!!! It took me eight months to finally conquer this volume. It took me so long because it was the first history dense book I've ever read and I left it several times to read something more engaging. That doesn't mean it was bad, it only means that I am not used with the genre and my attention span was limited to a few pages at a time. When I was reading a very interesting section, such as the origins of Islam, I was completely immersed in the book and other times I struggled to keep my eyes on the page.
A splendid Exchange wants to be (and succeeds) an informative history of Trade from its beginning in ancient times until the almost present. There are common themes that repeat themselves through every age: badly applied protectionism, the fear of foreign trade and globalization, the power of corporations. The main idea presented by the book is that free-trade is generally good although there also losers, that maybe should be protected. However, it is better to have a smaller portion of a bigger pie because of the general opportunities free-trade brings than to have a big portion from not much.
A splendid Exchange wants to be (and succeeds) an informative history of Trade from its beginning in ancient times until the almost present. There are common themes that repeat themselves through every age: badly applied protectionism, the fear of foreign trade and globalization, the power of corporations. The main idea presented by the book is that free-trade is generally good although there also losers, that maybe should be protected. However, it is better to have a smaller portion of a bigger pie because of the general opportunities free-trade brings than to have a big portion from not much.
December 5, 2015
So you think global free trade is a big problem today? Tired of cheap Chinese labor cutting into your wages? The barbers of Mexico City agreed with you completely. In 1635. Seems ain't much has changed in 400 years.
This is an excellent overview of the history of international trade. It broadened my understanding of world history - many history books treat trade as an afterthought, when it's really a driving force. And it did so while keeping things interesting. There are tons of fascinating personal stories. I also enjoyed learning a theory predicting who will support free trade and who will demand gov't protection from it.
One caveat is to focus on the trade. The author strays into making judgments about issues not necessarily directly related. For example, he's quite willing to condemn the Portuguese for cruelty. Fair enough, they were brutal. But it's doubtful that the Muslim tyrants they encountered were models of enlightened despotism.
The book's conclusion is that we are all wealthier because of free trade. But this summary is muddled because the author points out the losers in free trade. He throws out a theory that we need huge social safety nets in order to "buy off" the losers, but then admits this may not work as corporations can simply leave countries whose taxation is too burdensome.
So enjoy the historical overview and theories. Draw your own conclusions.
This is an excellent overview of the history of international trade. It broadened my understanding of world history - many history books treat trade as an afterthought, when it's really a driving force. And it did so while keeping things interesting. There are tons of fascinating personal stories. I also enjoyed learning a theory predicting who will support free trade and who will demand gov't protection from it.
One caveat is to focus on the trade. The author strays into making judgments about issues not necessarily directly related. For example, he's quite willing to condemn the Portuguese for cruelty. Fair enough, they were brutal. But it's doubtful that the Muslim tyrants they encountered were models of enlightened despotism.
The book's conclusion is that we are all wealthier because of free trade. But this summary is muddled because the author points out the losers in free trade. He throws out a theory that we need huge social safety nets in order to "buy off" the losers, but then admits this may not work as corporations can simply leave countries whose taxation is too burdensome.
So enjoy the historical overview and theories. Draw your own conclusions.
November 9, 2009
A Splendid Exchange was given a glowing NYT review by the same author who liked
The Pursuit of Glory
so much--more than sufficient recommendation for me.
This history of world trade, and discussion of how trade shaped world history, lacks a bit of the ambition of Blanding's thematic reappraisal of the long 18th century: this work is more or less straight-up chronological, although that turns out to represent William J. Bernstein's thesis in a way. The vehicles and objects may adapt and evolve, but human responses to trade are cyclical and familiar across time. I thought, too, that the first third of the book, up to the chapter on "the disease of trade" (the bubonic plague) was a little slow.
When the book picks up, it presents a fascinating view, integrating trends and events across huge distances in a way that can be quite illuminating to anyone who learned history is a "this year, Europe; next year, Asia" kind of way. The section on the early modern period is especially fun. What I have always loved about that period is its endless juxtaposition of the eerily familiar and the maddeningly medieval, and that certainly comes through in Bernstein's chapters. Then he impresses the reader again with his ability to show how that world of tea, calico, and opium seamlessly transformed into our own.
Bernstein is definitely in favor of free trade, and the front-cover blurb for the book is, strangely, provided by John C. Bogle of the Vanguard Group. But the book struck me as even-handed. In his final chapter about globalization, Bernstein talks about the players in the economy who become losers and the need to shield and compensate them, lest income inequality destabilize the society and state in which the economy is rooted.
I'll give this book four stars for now, though I could see it becoming one of those books that really stays with me and influences how I see current events. It certainly gave me a different way of looking at the map of the early modern world.
This history of world trade, and discussion of how trade shaped world history, lacks a bit of the ambition of Blanding's thematic reappraisal of the long 18th century: this work is more or less straight-up chronological, although that turns out to represent William J. Bernstein's thesis in a way. The vehicles and objects may adapt and evolve, but human responses to trade are cyclical and familiar across time. I thought, too, that the first third of the book, up to the chapter on "the disease of trade" (the bubonic plague) was a little slow.
When the book picks up, it presents a fascinating view, integrating trends and events across huge distances in a way that can be quite illuminating to anyone who learned history is a "this year, Europe; next year, Asia" kind of way. The section on the early modern period is especially fun. What I have always loved about that period is its endless juxtaposition of the eerily familiar and the maddeningly medieval, and that certainly comes through in Bernstein's chapters. Then he impresses the reader again with his ability to show how that world of tea, calico, and opium seamlessly transformed into our own.
Bernstein is definitely in favor of free trade, and the front-cover blurb for the book is, strangely, provided by John C. Bogle of the Vanguard Group. But the book struck me as even-handed. In his final chapter about globalization, Bernstein talks about the players in the economy who become losers and the need to shield and compensate them, lest income inequality destabilize the society and state in which the economy is rooted.
...it is important to find a happy medium between the Scylla of expensive and economically damaging social welfare systems and the Charybdis of too thin a safety net, which worsens inequality. The United States and northern Europe are nearly equally wealthy, yet the United States cycles about 30 percent of GDP through federal, states, and local governments, whereas the governments of northern Europe consume nearly half of GDP, most of which goes to pay for their social welfare schemes.Given ominously increasing levels of income inequality in the U.S., he concludes that the happy medium is somewhere between the American and northern European model--he's no "starve the government" conservative, in short.
I'll give this book four stars for now, though I could see it becoming one of those books that really stays with me and influences how I see current events. It certainly gave me a different way of looking at the map of the early modern world.
June 15, 2021
Five or six years ago, a Christmas mix-up resulted in my brother receiving two copies of this book. Not knowing what to do with one, he simply gave it to me. In so doing, however, he disobeyed Adam Smith’s doctrine that humanity has a natural instinct to truck and barter. Clearly, a rational animal would have used it to exchange for something he himself lacked, like cinnamon or frankincense or some textiles. What a wasted opportunity.
This book is part history of, and part homage to, trade. Four hundred pages is not nearly enough space to give such an expansive topic exhaustive coverage. But Bernstein does manage to pack quite a lot of interesting tidbits into his narrative. What most struck me was how central trade has been to human history. It has caused wars of invasion, spurred on colonialism, motivated the great journeys of “discovery,” helped to spread epidemic diseases, and stimulated newer forms of economic organization. In short, the urge to turn a profit has helped to join together every corner of the world—leading to many wonderful things and quite a few atrocities, too.
After reviewing this thrilling history, Bernstein ends by examining the old conflict between free trade and protectionism—or, more concretely, low tariffs or high tariffs. It is an interesting question. Low tariffs provide a small but tangible benefit to the general populace in the form of cheaper goods; but they do so at the expense of workers displaced by competition from abroad (and vice versa with high tariffs). So what is more important, knocking off a few cents from something bought by millions or allowing a few thousand people to keep their job? The traditional answer is that the government should keep tariffs low, and “bribe” those displaced with additional support in the form of welfare and job retraining. But in practice most workers are left to fend for themselves, which can eventually create political instability if resentment grows too widespread.
Another question has to do with the development of an economy. High tariffs can be used to shield domestic industries from foreign competition, allowing them to grow to the point that they can effectively compete. But high tariffs can also preserve inefficient companies and obsolete technologies, putting a country at a long-term disadvantage. Orthodox economic logic always favors free trade, but the evidence is mixed. According to Bernstein, several studies actually found a positive correlation between high tariffs and economic growth in the 19th century. Still, Bernstein comes down in favor of free trade, not because it offers an economic miracle (he says its benefits are overstated), but because it helps to foster bonds between potential enemies. But, if you ask me, when a nation is dependent on another (and potentially weaker) country for its resources, this can easily become a powerful source of conflict.
Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to disobey Adam Smith myself and donate this book to a library.
This book is part history of, and part homage to, trade. Four hundred pages is not nearly enough space to give such an expansive topic exhaustive coverage. But Bernstein does manage to pack quite a lot of interesting tidbits into his narrative. What most struck me was how central trade has been to human history. It has caused wars of invasion, spurred on colonialism, motivated the great journeys of “discovery,” helped to spread epidemic diseases, and stimulated newer forms of economic organization. In short, the urge to turn a profit has helped to join together every corner of the world—leading to many wonderful things and quite a few atrocities, too.
After reviewing this thrilling history, Bernstein ends by examining the old conflict between free trade and protectionism—or, more concretely, low tariffs or high tariffs. It is an interesting question. Low tariffs provide a small but tangible benefit to the general populace in the form of cheaper goods; but they do so at the expense of workers displaced by competition from abroad (and vice versa with high tariffs). So what is more important, knocking off a few cents from something bought by millions or allowing a few thousand people to keep their job? The traditional answer is that the government should keep tariffs low, and “bribe” those displaced with additional support in the form of welfare and job retraining. But in practice most workers are left to fend for themselves, which can eventually create political instability if resentment grows too widespread.
Another question has to do with the development of an economy. High tariffs can be used to shield domestic industries from foreign competition, allowing them to grow to the point that they can effectively compete. But high tariffs can also preserve inefficient companies and obsolete technologies, putting a country at a long-term disadvantage. Orthodox economic logic always favors free trade, but the evidence is mixed. According to Bernstein, several studies actually found a positive correlation between high tariffs and economic growth in the 19th century. Still, Bernstein comes down in favor of free trade, not because it offers an economic miracle (he says its benefits are overstated), but because it helps to foster bonds between potential enemies. But, if you ask me, when a nation is dependent on another (and potentially weaker) country for its resources, this can easily become a powerful source of conflict.
Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to disobey Adam Smith myself and donate this book to a library.
August 11, 2008
I find myself thinking about this book constantly. It deals with a subject that is so ubiquitous that it is hardly ever closely analyzed: trade. The time period stretches from the stone age to the present. The items covered include spices, coffee, silk, pigs and pork, precious metals and, really, just about everything else on the planet. He demonstrates thousands of times that the world as we know it would be unrecognizable without trade, and shows that trade has shaped who we are in ways that none of us fully recognize. The historical detail is amazing. The writing is scholarly but clear and fascinating on every page. My only complaint is an odd one: he doesn't seem to have a solid theory of trade that goes beyond neoclassical conventions. Had he put one up front, he would have been able to go beyond the very good chronicle here to actually forge a solid theory of the social order itself. But that is a regrettable oversight that in no way diminishes the contribution here.
February 19, 2012
A splendid book. Tom Friedman is wrong; the earth didn't become flat thanks to the Internet in the last decade or so. It has been flat for nearly 2000 years, ever since the Chinese began trading with the Arabs who traded with the Europeans, all of them risking life and limb in ways that make our modern day corporate heroes look wimpy indeed. Bernstein's analysis of trade from those early days is extremely revealing, and relevant to our world today. Among his most telling insights: the Victorian era's access to cheaper and cheaper means of shipping flipped countries from protectionists to free traders and back again depending on who was winning and who was losing -- right up to the two World Wars of the 20th century. If you want to understand the politics of modern trade -- and therefore modern politics -- then read this book.
May 16, 2020
A great history lesson on the evolution of our world, anchored by an activity that humans are naturally predisposed to engage in: trade. If not for trade, the world wouldn’t be where it is today, is the lesson from this book. Even though I have read about several epochs of history at different times in other books, this book brings them all together in chronological order and compellingly integrates the evolution of these separate epochs.
Beginning with the Sumerians in 4000 B.C (dubbed World Trade Organization 1.0). and ending in Seattle in 1999 (where the WTO conference was riddled with tear gas and rubber bullets), the book highlights the vital commodities that gave rise to trade; it covers the technology and methods of transportation used to deliver such items of trade, the forms of money that consequently evolved, the politics that helped or hindered, and threats like war, pestilence and conquest that mutated prevailing trade patterns.
Copper gave way to bronze, then to silk, then to spices, then to sugar (and its derivative rum), then to coffee, then to slavery, then to tea, then to opium, then to corn – there was always one prime commodity that acted as the new gold and drove the engine of trade. Sumeria and the Indus Valley were the early trading centres. The Silk Road (and Belt) was the next loop that connected China to Rome via land and sea, where silk was traded until about the 6th century. With the coming of Islam, The Fertile Crescent, encircling the Middle East and Indian Ocean was the next large centre that lasted for nearly 800 years, before Vasco de Gama of Portugal circled the Cape of Good Hope and brought the Europeans back into the game that had by then switched to the hot commodity of spices. Privately funded expeditions gave way to joint-stock corporations for the next 400 years, notably the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and the British East India Company (EIC) and their western counterparts that scoured the New World for deals. The New World, discovered by Columbus, also proved to be an easier and more attractive venture for investors as the journey was infinitely shorter than the long trek to the East Indies.
A chapter on the diseases that accompanied trade and drastically altered progress is of interest given these pandemic times we live in. The Black Death hit twice: once between 560 – 800 AD, plunging Europe into the Dark Ages; the second time in the 13th century, putting paid to the Mongol expansion westwards. The battle of Kaffa, a city in the Crimea in modern-day Ukraine (or Russia, based on who you believe has claim to the territory today) tells of how the Mongol invaders who had besieged the city used catapults to lob the dead and infected over the city walls to overcome those inside; which is also attributed to why the plague spread further into Europe.
Around the mid-nineteenth century, we take a detour into economics, with theories of free trade vs. protectionism taking root. Britain and America veered between these two extremes based on the ups and downs of their domestic fortunes; the former with its protectionist corn laws that ran for over 50 years until 1846, when Britain caved and adopted free trade; the latter with its protectionist policies that lasted from Herbert Hoover until the end of WWII, and which now seem to be resuscitated under Trump. The two industries that seem to consistently convince governments to stay protectionist have been textiles and farming.
There is a lot in the book to cover, too much for a short review like this. I haven’t even covered the very entertaining voyages of Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta, Columbus and Magellen, nor the fierce battles between the Portuguese and the Dutch for hegemony in Asia, nor the hotspot that everyone fought over: The Spice Islands, also known as the Moluccas, located in present day Indonesia.
There also needs to be a mention about the technologies like cartography and refrigeration that enabled trade, and the methods of transportation that ranged from sail boats to land caravans, to steam power, to railways and highways. As distribution costs declined, the trading universe enlarged, and competition was enabled, thus levelling prices and making traders hunt for the next hot commodity. And of course, we must not forget human greed that pushed traders into uncharted territory, often to fail but to always return to the mast, because in pioneering times even one out of ten shipments getting through enabled huge profits for its investors.
I recommend this book for anyone trying to understand why we face today’s economic dilemmas. Our problems of today have been faced many times over in history, it appears.
Beginning with the Sumerians in 4000 B.C (dubbed World Trade Organization 1.0). and ending in Seattle in 1999 (where the WTO conference was riddled with tear gas and rubber bullets), the book highlights the vital commodities that gave rise to trade; it covers the technology and methods of transportation used to deliver such items of trade, the forms of money that consequently evolved, the politics that helped or hindered, and threats like war, pestilence and conquest that mutated prevailing trade patterns.
Copper gave way to bronze, then to silk, then to spices, then to sugar (and its derivative rum), then to coffee, then to slavery, then to tea, then to opium, then to corn – there was always one prime commodity that acted as the new gold and drove the engine of trade. Sumeria and the Indus Valley were the early trading centres. The Silk Road (and Belt) was the next loop that connected China to Rome via land and sea, where silk was traded until about the 6th century. With the coming of Islam, The Fertile Crescent, encircling the Middle East and Indian Ocean was the next large centre that lasted for nearly 800 years, before Vasco de Gama of Portugal circled the Cape of Good Hope and brought the Europeans back into the game that had by then switched to the hot commodity of spices. Privately funded expeditions gave way to joint-stock corporations for the next 400 years, notably the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and the British East India Company (EIC) and their western counterparts that scoured the New World for deals. The New World, discovered by Columbus, also proved to be an easier and more attractive venture for investors as the journey was infinitely shorter than the long trek to the East Indies.
A chapter on the diseases that accompanied trade and drastically altered progress is of interest given these pandemic times we live in. The Black Death hit twice: once between 560 – 800 AD, plunging Europe into the Dark Ages; the second time in the 13th century, putting paid to the Mongol expansion westwards. The battle of Kaffa, a city in the Crimea in modern-day Ukraine (or Russia, based on who you believe has claim to the territory today) tells of how the Mongol invaders who had besieged the city used catapults to lob the dead and infected over the city walls to overcome those inside; which is also attributed to why the plague spread further into Europe.
Around the mid-nineteenth century, we take a detour into economics, with theories of free trade vs. protectionism taking root. Britain and America veered between these two extremes based on the ups and downs of their domestic fortunes; the former with its protectionist corn laws that ran for over 50 years until 1846, when Britain caved and adopted free trade; the latter with its protectionist policies that lasted from Herbert Hoover until the end of WWII, and which now seem to be resuscitated under Trump. The two industries that seem to consistently convince governments to stay protectionist have been textiles and farming.
There is a lot in the book to cover, too much for a short review like this. I haven’t even covered the very entertaining voyages of Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta, Columbus and Magellen, nor the fierce battles between the Portuguese and the Dutch for hegemony in Asia, nor the hotspot that everyone fought over: The Spice Islands, also known as the Moluccas, located in present day Indonesia.
There also needs to be a mention about the technologies like cartography and refrigeration that enabled trade, and the methods of transportation that ranged from sail boats to land caravans, to steam power, to railways and highways. As distribution costs declined, the trading universe enlarged, and competition was enabled, thus levelling prices and making traders hunt for the next hot commodity. And of course, we must not forget human greed that pushed traders into uncharted territory, often to fail but to always return to the mast, because in pioneering times even one out of ten shipments getting through enabled huge profits for its investors.
I recommend this book for anyone trying to understand why we face today’s economic dilemmas. Our problems of today have been faced many times over in history, it appears.
March 26, 2013
-La guerra es una continuación de la política mediante otros medios. Y la política es la expresión de las voluntades económicas, no se engañen-.
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Investigación acerca de cómo el comercio ha modelado los cimientos de la civilización y los derroteros de la historia, desde Sumeria hasta la actualidad.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Investigación acerca de cómo el comercio ha modelado los cimientos de la civilización y los derroteros de la historia, desde Sumeria hasta la actualidad.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
July 4, 2009
Halfway through this book. Outstanding review of the history of trade, especially the Indian Ocean trade before 1600AD. I wish it had included more on areas outside the Indian Ocean (Mali, Mediterranean in BC, etc.). Maybe I'll come upon them later, as Bernstein jumps around chronologically to maintain emphasis on a topic.
Bernstein has a tendency to editorialize and reference current culture, but the remarks can come across condescendingly. The asides are annoying and often an overly simplistic summary of current affairs. Sometimes they're flat-out misinterpretations, and most are more his opinions than facts. They easily distract from his actual points.
The information and topics covered would give the book 5 stars but Bernstein's asides steal one of the stars.
* Finally finished it. The digressions decreased as the book entered the 16th century, which surprised me considering the easy targets European subjugation of East Asia provides. The topics became more euro-centric but they really helped me understand some of the undertones of conflicts we covered in high school American History. I never understood why the Dutch were a big deal, how control of the seas moved from the Portuguese to the English, or anything about American-Asia trade. Bernstein ends with a relatively even-handed discussion of globalization and its winners and losers. I'm glad I didn't stop halfway through. *
Bernstein has a tendency to editorialize and reference current culture, but the remarks can come across condescendingly. The asides are annoying and often an overly simplistic summary of current affairs. Sometimes they're flat-out misinterpretations, and most are more his opinions than facts. They easily distract from his actual points.
The information and topics covered would give the book 5 stars but Bernstein's asides steal one of the stars.
* Finally finished it. The digressions decreased as the book entered the 16th century, which surprised me considering the easy targets European subjugation of East Asia provides. The topics became more euro-centric but they really helped me understand some of the undertones of conflicts we covered in high school American History. I never understood why the Dutch were a big deal, how control of the seas moved from the Portuguese to the English, or anything about American-Asia trade. Bernstein ends with a relatively even-handed discussion of globalization and its winners and losers. I'm glad I didn't stop halfway through. *
November 2, 2016
This book was excellent. In one relatively short book, the author provided a survey of how trade built civilization (the significance of trade routes and leaders along those routes), what items were important throughout history and why (silk, pepper, etc), how resources and illness ( e.g. germs, guns, and steel) affected trade and the growth and destruction of various civilizations, and how the trade and demand for specific goods played a role in the social treatment of human beings (e.g. slavery, power struggles). I feel like I just took an epic journey through time, but specifically through the lens of how trade affected everything in the known world. A must read.
December 13, 2020
An Excellent Melding of Trade and Economic HistoryA wonderful history of trade and economic history of the very first exchanges of precious goods, discovery of comparative advantage, backlash of protectionism, and the cultural differences that underpin how different countries have viewed trade and mercantilism and colonial expansion to feed market-driven economies. Really fascinating content for history and economics buffs, written in a intelligent but accessible style.
September 6, 2015
Subtitle: How Trade Shaped The World. Full disclosure: I am an apostate on free trade, at least between nations of very different income levels, so I am somewhat biased against this book. However, reading something from a point of view opposed to yours is a good exercise, so I gave it a shot, to see if it would save my libertarian soul.
Well, no. But it was interesting reading. Bernstein begins in ancient Sumer, spends a fair amount of time in the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean, takes us through the bizarre mix of audacity, luck, and barbarity which was European colonialism, and then ends up with the WTO meeting in Seattle in the late 1990's.
Bernstein does a creditable job of attempting to give his history of trade a neutral world view, looking at the Silk Road trade from the point of view of its origins as well as its destination points for example. One wonders what impact trade had on, for example, New World kingdoms prior to 1492, but whatever records existed on it probably are inaccessible to us now for reasons he can't do much about, so if his history of trade is Eurocentric then so are the records and histories he has to work from. Ibn Battuta is given more coverage than Marco Polo (albeit not all that complimentary), and the methods of Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain in their colonial heydays are certainly not sweet-coated.
The larger question, though, is how well Bernstein is able to evaluate the impact of trade on the societies he studies. He is fairly clear-eyed about the costs and downsides of it, such as increasing income inequality and the political fragility that comes with it. He covers some of the work of recent decades dismantling (partially or wholly) the claim that the Smoot-Hawley tariffs caused or exacerbated the Great Depression. His explanation of Stolper and Samuelson's analysis of land, labor, and capital was one I was not previously familiar with, and it explains much that was previously muddled.
The idea is that in any nation at a given point in time, one or two of these will be plentiful, and the other relatively scarce, and those who control the scarce ones will oppose free trade.
Nation/time Abundant Scarce
(pro Free Trade) (anti Free Trade)
U.S. <1900 Land Labor, Capital
U.S. >1900 Land, Capital Labor
England >1750 Labor, Capital Land
Germany <1870 Labor, Land Capital
Germany,1870-1960 Labor Capital, Land
Germany >1960 Labor, Capital Land
This is not a model Bernstein created, but it is an example of the sort of good work which he brings from the study of trade to an educated layman like myself, and it helps to make the book worth reading for more than just the tales of blood-soaked, greed-fueled mix of courage and cruelty that make up the colonial period (and before).
I'd have to say that the book left me a little unsatisfied, though, and for a few reasons.
First, Bernstein has little to say about the impact of power disparities on the affects of trade. For example, how does it matter if the trade is between France/Germany, U.S./Canada, Argentina/Brazil, or India/China on the one hand, or U.S./Mexico, Germany/Greece, China/sub-Saharan Africa on the other? It seems unlikely there is not much to be said about how the impact of trade depends on this difference, and a survey of the world history of trade would be a good place to examine it.
Second, even while presenting and acknowledging the problems of free trade, Bernstein has little more than a shrug and "what can you do?" Well, it seems worth mentioning at least that the U.K, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and many other nations have had robust economic growth during periods where they gave their own industries very high tariffs or other protective barriers. He presents again Cordell Hull's idea that trade prevents wars, without doing much to back that up; if we buy lots of oil from Iran and sell them enough wheat to put all their farmers out of work, how does this prevent a war? It is as if he had spent 300+ pages surveying the history of world trade on a lark, before spending 75 or so talking about the problems of modern globalization, and then right when the reader is waiting for him to use the first part to help shed light on the second, he just sort of ends.
Having said all that, it is well written, with enough humor, maps, and well-done figures and tables to keep my interest. The stories of pre-modern trade are barbaric enough to make one's blood boil at times, even when it's not something like the slave trade or England forcing the Chinese to buy opium because otherwise they had nothing the Chinese wanted, but he gives us a break in between those episodes, and always leavens the numbers with good storytelling. I am happy to have read it, and would recommend it. His policy prescriptions, however, which amount to "carry on, more of the same", I cannot recommend.
Well, no. But it was interesting reading. Bernstein begins in ancient Sumer, spends a fair amount of time in the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean, takes us through the bizarre mix of audacity, luck, and barbarity which was European colonialism, and then ends up with the WTO meeting in Seattle in the late 1990's.
Bernstein does a creditable job of attempting to give his history of trade a neutral world view, looking at the Silk Road trade from the point of view of its origins as well as its destination points for example. One wonders what impact trade had on, for example, New World kingdoms prior to 1492, but whatever records existed on it probably are inaccessible to us now for reasons he can't do much about, so if his history of trade is Eurocentric then so are the records and histories he has to work from. Ibn Battuta is given more coverage than Marco Polo (albeit not all that complimentary), and the methods of Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain in their colonial heydays are certainly not sweet-coated.
The larger question, though, is how well Bernstein is able to evaluate the impact of trade on the societies he studies. He is fairly clear-eyed about the costs and downsides of it, such as increasing income inequality and the political fragility that comes with it. He covers some of the work of recent decades dismantling (partially or wholly) the claim that the Smoot-Hawley tariffs caused or exacerbated the Great Depression. His explanation of Stolper and Samuelson's analysis of land, labor, and capital was one I was not previously familiar with, and it explains much that was previously muddled.
The idea is that in any nation at a given point in time, one or two of these will be plentiful, and the other relatively scarce, and those who control the scarce ones will oppose free trade.
Nation/time Abundant Scarce
(pro Free Trade) (anti Free Trade)
U.S. <1900 Land Labor, Capital
U.S. >1900 Land, Capital Labor
England >1750 Labor, Capital Land
Germany <1870 Labor, Land Capital
Germany,1870-1960 Labor Capital, Land
Germany >1960 Labor, Capital Land
This is not a model Bernstein created, but it is an example of the sort of good work which he brings from the study of trade to an educated layman like myself, and it helps to make the book worth reading for more than just the tales of blood-soaked, greed-fueled mix of courage and cruelty that make up the colonial period (and before).
I'd have to say that the book left me a little unsatisfied, though, and for a few reasons.
First, Bernstein has little to say about the impact of power disparities on the affects of trade. For example, how does it matter if the trade is between France/Germany, U.S./Canada, Argentina/Brazil, or India/China on the one hand, or U.S./Mexico, Germany/Greece, China/sub-Saharan Africa on the other? It seems unlikely there is not much to be said about how the impact of trade depends on this difference, and a survey of the world history of trade would be a good place to examine it.
Second, even while presenting and acknowledging the problems of free trade, Bernstein has little more than a shrug and "what can you do?" Well, it seems worth mentioning at least that the U.K, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and many other nations have had robust economic growth during periods where they gave their own industries very high tariffs or other protective barriers. He presents again Cordell Hull's idea that trade prevents wars, without doing much to back that up; if we buy lots of oil from Iran and sell them enough wheat to put all their farmers out of work, how does this prevent a war? It is as if he had spent 300+ pages surveying the history of world trade on a lark, before spending 75 or so talking about the problems of modern globalization, and then right when the reader is waiting for him to use the first part to help shed light on the second, he just sort of ends.
Having said all that, it is well written, with enough humor, maps, and well-done figures and tables to keep my interest. The stories of pre-modern trade are barbaric enough to make one's blood boil at times, even when it's not something like the slave trade or England forcing the Chinese to buy opium because otherwise they had nothing the Chinese wanted, but he gives us a break in between those episodes, and always leavens the numbers with good storytelling. I am happy to have read it, and would recommend it. His policy prescriptions, however, which amount to "carry on, more of the same", I cannot recommend.
January 20, 2016
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World from Prehistory to Today, by William Bernstein is a book on the history and development of trade throughout the globe, over human history. Bernstein focuses primarily on the history of trade, but does not shy away from the data required to offer a detailed and authoritative narrative of trade. This book offers a quite interesting look at the internal trade functions of states from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, through Roman Empire, the rise of the Islamic Golden Age, and toward the modern world of Western dominated economics. I was most fascinated by the triangle trade between Asia, Africa and Europe that took place in the 11th and 12th centuries, where European states swapped textiles and precious metals for silks, spices and the like without directly contacting the points of origin for each good. It is interesting that most trade was done with out any knowledge of where a good came from, or where it was necessarily going.
A Splendid Exchange chronicles the development of economic thought as well. States moved from trade in primarily luxury items, only for the wealthy nobility, toward Imperialism and Mercantilism in order to corner supply and create a positive trade balance, and finally into free trade and modern trade agreements, where tariffs are low/non-existent and consumerism is King.
Some small complaints include; Bernstein's chapter on disease and trade, where he often equates large and important historical events primarily to the advent of a particular disease. Bernstein equates the rise and fall of Empires, large political changes and no less than the rise of Western Imperialism primarily to diseases. This seemed like a weak argument, and left out a lot of other factors and considerations when approaching historical events. This was by far the weakest chapter in the book. Bernstein also offers political opinions on current(ish) events in the United States, touching on the Bush administration and its economic ideas. Although this may have been prudent information at the time, it does little to improve ones knowledge on the development of trade throughout history, and really should not have been included within the text.
Even so, A Splendid Exchange was an excellent read, with a few minor blips. Bernstein has done a wonderful job chronicling the rise of commerce and trade throughout human history, and the logistics and theories that continue to effect modern humanity. Human's, it is said, are made to trade, and Bernstein does a wonderful job arguing this point, while also writing an engaging and interesting bit of history. Definitely recommended to history buffs and economists looking for a bit of background.
A Splendid Exchange chronicles the development of economic thought as well. States moved from trade in primarily luxury items, only for the wealthy nobility, toward Imperialism and Mercantilism in order to corner supply and create a positive trade balance, and finally into free trade and modern trade agreements, where tariffs are low/non-existent and consumerism is King.
Some small complaints include; Bernstein's chapter on disease and trade, where he often equates large and important historical events primarily to the advent of a particular disease. Bernstein equates the rise and fall of Empires, large political changes and no less than the rise of Western Imperialism primarily to diseases. This seemed like a weak argument, and left out a lot of other factors and considerations when approaching historical events. This was by far the weakest chapter in the book. Bernstein also offers political opinions on current(ish) events in the United States, touching on the Bush administration and its economic ideas. Although this may have been prudent information at the time, it does little to improve ones knowledge on the development of trade throughout history, and really should not have been included within the text.
Even so, A Splendid Exchange was an excellent read, with a few minor blips. Bernstein has done a wonderful job chronicling the rise of commerce and trade throughout human history, and the logistics and theories that continue to effect modern humanity. Human's, it is said, are made to trade, and Bernstein does a wonderful job arguing this point, while also writing an engaging and interesting bit of history. Definitely recommended to history buffs and economists looking for a bit of background.
August 12, 2023
Định đọc cuốn này 2 năm trước nhưng giờ mới có bản ebook để đọc. Sách khá dày nhưng so với cuốn Napoleon đồ sọ thì không thấm tháp gì.
Ngay những đoạn đầu tác giả đã đề cập tới một nhu cầu thiết yếu khác của loài người ngoài ăn uống, ngủ nghỉ, tình dục thì trao đổi cũng là một nhu cầu căn bản. Nó khiến thương mại ra đời và góp phần định hình thế giới như ngày nay.
Tác giả viết theo tuần tự dòng thời gian, từ buổi bình minh loài người thời Sumer tới đầu thế kỷ 21 với những vấn đề đơn giản là được lặp lại từ quá khứ. Nhu cầu trao đổi ban đầu là đổi những thứ mình thừa lấy những gì mình đang thiếu, vài hòn đảo quanh khu vực lân cận nhau. Rồi vươn xa ra những khu vực bên cạnh tùy vào khả năng di chuyển của con người ở mỗi thời. Buổi ban đầu thì khả năng vận chuyển quyết định cách thương mại vận hành. Đường biển còn quá nhiều thứ chưa kiểm soát được, đường bộ thì vô cùng bất ổn do sự bất ổn chính trị và thay đổi liên tục giữa các triều đại và tôn giáo. Suốt lịch sử chỉ duy có giai đoạn ngắn ngủi, lúc Mông Cổ thống nhất khu vực Châu Á rộng lớn tới tận bờ biển đen là vận chuyển qua đường bộ được tương đối bình ổn, giao thương phát triển mạnh. Đường biển thì quá nguy hiểm, 2/3 số người đi biển không trở về, 1 năm cũng chỉ có thể dựa theo gió mùa mà đi được 1 chuyến, khiến hàng hóa khắp nơi đắt đỏ. Ở Châu Âu gia vị và tơ lụa là những hàng hóa quá xa xỉ. Người ta dùng những từ như "bao hồ tiêu" để nói về người lắm tiền. Tơ lụa thì đặt lên cân với vàng lá để trao đổi.
Trung Quốc khi đó với khả năng tự cung tự cấp có lẽ là nơi phát triển bậc nhất. Nhưng từ sau thế kỷ 15, những tuyến đường biển mới được tìm ra, nhà Minh thì từ bỏ tất cả lực lượng h���i quân và thương mại đường biển. Châu Âu nổi lên trở thành bá chủ về thương mại thế giới trong 300 năm tiếp theo. Lần lượt Bồ Đào Nha, Tây Ban Nha, Hà Lan, Anh.. nổi lên thống trị 1 thời, nhưng do chậm thay đổi và chính sách sai lầm mà bị tụt lại. Máy hơi nước và ngành luyện kim được cải tiến, khiến cho việc đi lại xuyên đại dương diễn ra quanh năm với thời gian vô cùng ngắn đã đẩy nhanh quá trình toàn cầu hóa thương mại bất chấp việc rất nhiều nước đã có thời gian theo đuổi chính sách bảo hộ với hàng rào thuế quan có khi lên tới 100%. Xung đột thương mại thường kéo theo sau đó là chiến tranh, khủng hoảng ở Mỹ năm 1930-1933 do thuế quan dày đặc và sự trả đũa của phương Tây khiến cả 2 bên suy yếu, đẩy thế giới vào thế chiến II. Từ cuối thê kỷ 20 tới đầu thế kỷ 21 tới giờ, xu thế toàn cầu hóa thương mại gần như trở thành tất yếu. Những nước nằm ngoài vòng này đa phần thu nhập đều ở mức vô cùng thấp. Nhưng toàn cầu hóa thương mại cũng kéo theo 1 bộ phận bị thiệt hại nặng nề, suốt những năm đầu thế kỷ 21 là hành trình đi tìm lời giải để cân bằng cho tất cả các bên. Những nước giàu có đổ GDP vào phúc lợi, công ích.. 1 vài nước thì dùng chính sách hỗ trợ các ngành bị ảnh hưởng do toàn cầu hóa thương mại. Chiến tranh có lẽ sẽ lùi khá xa khi giờ bất kể nước nào cũng ý thức được rõ ràng, có 1 láng giềng khỏe mạnh và những người bỏ tiền mua hàng hóa của mình tốt hơn rất nhiều khi tìm cách giết chết láng giềng đó.
Đọc hết cuốn sách có 1 cái nhìn bao quát về thương mại thế giới, cách nó vận hành và những hệ lụy đi kèm từ nó. 1 vài chương khó đọc do kiến thức về giai đoạn đó hơi mỏng, nhưng sách viết hấp dẫn hơn mấy cuốn của Jared Diamon, có lẽ do chủ đề này gây nhiều hứng thú hơn.
Chấm 4*. Lại đổi món qua 1 cuốn văn học nào đó cho dễ đọc.
Ngay những đoạn đầu tác giả đã đề cập tới một nhu cầu thiết yếu khác của loài người ngoài ăn uống, ngủ nghỉ, tình dục thì trao đổi cũng là một nhu cầu căn bản. Nó khiến thương mại ra đời và góp phần định hình thế giới như ngày nay.
Tác giả viết theo tuần tự dòng thời gian, từ buổi bình minh loài người thời Sumer tới đầu thế kỷ 21 với những vấn đề đơn giản là được lặp lại từ quá khứ. Nhu cầu trao đổi ban đầu là đổi những thứ mình thừa lấy những gì mình đang thiếu, vài hòn đảo quanh khu vực lân cận nhau. Rồi vươn xa ra những khu vực bên cạnh tùy vào khả năng di chuyển của con người ở mỗi thời. Buổi ban đầu thì khả năng vận chuyển quyết định cách thương mại vận hành. Đường biển còn quá nhiều thứ chưa kiểm soát được, đường bộ thì vô cùng bất ổn do sự bất ổn chính trị và thay đổi liên tục giữa các triều đại và tôn giáo. Suốt lịch sử chỉ duy có giai đoạn ngắn ngủi, lúc Mông Cổ thống nhất khu vực Châu Á rộng lớn tới tận bờ biển đen là vận chuyển qua đường bộ được tương đối bình ổn, giao thương phát triển mạnh. Đường biển thì quá nguy hiểm, 2/3 số người đi biển không trở về, 1 năm cũng chỉ có thể dựa theo gió mùa mà đi được 1 chuyến, khiến hàng hóa khắp nơi đắt đỏ. Ở Châu Âu gia vị và tơ lụa là những hàng hóa quá xa xỉ. Người ta dùng những từ như "bao hồ tiêu" để nói về người lắm tiền. Tơ lụa thì đặt lên cân với vàng lá để trao đổi.
Trung Quốc khi đó với khả năng tự cung tự cấp có lẽ là nơi phát triển bậc nhất. Nhưng từ sau thế kỷ 15, những tuyến đường biển mới được tìm ra, nhà Minh thì từ bỏ tất cả lực lượng h���i quân và thương mại đường biển. Châu Âu nổi lên trở thành bá chủ về thương mại thế giới trong 300 năm tiếp theo. Lần lượt Bồ Đào Nha, Tây Ban Nha, Hà Lan, Anh.. nổi lên thống trị 1 thời, nhưng do chậm thay đổi và chính sách sai lầm mà bị tụt lại. Máy hơi nước và ngành luyện kim được cải tiến, khiến cho việc đi lại xuyên đại dương diễn ra quanh năm với thời gian vô cùng ngắn đã đẩy nhanh quá trình toàn cầu hóa thương mại bất chấp việc rất nhiều nước đã có thời gian theo đuổi chính sách bảo hộ với hàng rào thuế quan có khi lên tới 100%. Xung đột thương mại thường kéo theo sau đó là chiến tranh, khủng hoảng ở Mỹ năm 1930-1933 do thuế quan dày đặc và sự trả đũa của phương Tây khiến cả 2 bên suy yếu, đẩy thế giới vào thế chiến II. Từ cuối thê kỷ 20 tới đầu thế kỷ 21 tới giờ, xu thế toàn cầu hóa thương mại gần như trở thành tất yếu. Những nước nằm ngoài vòng này đa phần thu nhập đều ở mức vô cùng thấp. Nhưng toàn cầu hóa thương mại cũng kéo theo 1 bộ phận bị thiệt hại nặng nề, suốt những năm đầu thế kỷ 21 là hành trình đi tìm lời giải để cân bằng cho tất cả các bên. Những nước giàu có đổ GDP vào phúc lợi, công ích.. 1 vài nước thì dùng chính sách hỗ trợ các ngành bị ảnh hưởng do toàn cầu hóa thương mại. Chiến tranh có lẽ sẽ lùi khá xa khi giờ bất kể nước nào cũng ý thức được rõ ràng, có 1 láng giềng khỏe mạnh và những người bỏ tiền mua hàng hóa của mình tốt hơn rất nhiều khi tìm cách giết chết láng giềng đó.
Đọc hết cuốn sách có 1 cái nhìn bao quát về thương mại thế giới, cách nó vận hành và những hệ lụy đi kèm từ nó. 1 vài chương khó đọc do kiến thức về giai đoạn đó hơi mỏng, nhưng sách viết hấp dẫn hơn mấy cuốn của Jared Diamon, có lẽ do chủ đề này gây nhiều hứng thú hơn.
Chấm 4*. Lại đổi món qua 1 cuốn văn học nào đó cho dễ đọc.
February 22, 2019
A very exhaustive history of trade. It also covers disease, migration, and conflicts that have arisen out of trade. An incredible well written and thoroughly researched work. Easy to get stuck on the sidebars about disease, plant genetics, etc.(the author is a neurologist) overall a great sweeping work on trade. If I had a wish it would be more content on the past 50 years of trade but it does cover that at the end of the book. The author clearly felt that the more things change, the more they stay the same, so he viewed all current trends and trade conflicts as a continuation of historical patterns.
Suprisingly good arguments and explanation around the Boston Tea Party being one of America's first trade wars and being more about merchants losing money to direct shipping of tea rather than "taxation without representation." He said the argument about taxation without representation was made years before and didn't incite outrage until wealthy American merchants were being undercut by direct purchases and shipping to the colonialists. Things you don't learn in k-12 American history or Johnny Tremain. :)
Suprisingly good arguments and explanation around the Boston Tea Party being one of America's first trade wars and being more about merchants losing money to direct shipping of tea rather than "taxation without representation." He said the argument about taxation without representation was made years before and didn't incite outrage until wealthy American merchants were being undercut by direct purchases and shipping to the colonialists. Things you don't learn in k-12 American history or Johnny Tremain. :)
February 15, 2014
This is an important subject and a Splendid Exchange is the best history on the growth of international trade. With two exceptions, it's encyclopedic and well written. The two exceptions, however, were the difference between five and the four stars I give:
1) Not enough about the trading relationship of the Hanseatic League; and
2) Infantile, and already dated, references to that terrible George W. Bush (or his Administration) and his allegedly unilateralist foreign policy--I know all poly-sci profs are liberals, but it's unhelpful to compare a Raj of a thousand years ago with Donald Rumsfeld.
1) Not enough about the trading relationship of the Hanseatic League; and
2) Infantile, and already dated, references to that terrible George W. Bush (or his Administration) and his allegedly unilateralist foreign policy--I know all poly-sci profs are liberals, but it's unhelpful to compare a Raj of a thousand years ago with Donald Rumsfeld.
September 25, 2019
I keep wondering how a book on trade through history could be so interesting and simultaneously so entertaining. I don't think I've encountered anything quite close to it since Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel."
June 1, 2021
Read from the perspective of 2019 (11 years after publication), this clearly-written defense of free-trade is like a long-delayed broadcast from another, more reasonable reality, where issues can actually be argued on their merits, instead of on the basis of which group gets "pwned" by which other group.
The book addresses certain issues important issues in clear, easy-to-understand English, such as "the problem of how, or even whether, those left behind by free trade should be compensated" (Kindle p. 382). The answer (same page): "...it is far cheaper and better for all to directly compensate the losers." Soon after: "... the nation's social safety net needs to be expanded, but lip service, at best, is all that is usually offered."
The observations come at the end of the book, and to get there you must detour through literally thousands of years of pre-modern trade. People who feel that they must be reading things of immediate relevance might be a little disappointing, but I love going over the almost-lost trivia of day-to-day life long ago. Particularly, I enjoyed the passage (p. 59) on how the long-distance trade in frankincense and myrrh around the time of the birth of Christ worked, including a good capsule description of what the two products actually are -- a fact I had failed to store in long-term memory, vigorous efforts of certain nuns to the contrary.
The book addresses certain issues important issues in clear, easy-to-understand English, such as "the problem of how, or even whether, those left behind by free trade should be compensated" (Kindle p. 382). The answer (same page): "...it is far cheaper and better for all to directly compensate the losers." Soon after: "... the nation's social safety net needs to be expanded, but lip service, at best, is all that is usually offered."
The observations come at the end of the book, and to get there you must detour through literally thousands of years of pre-modern trade. People who feel that they must be reading things of immediate relevance might be a little disappointing, but I love going over the almost-lost trivia of day-to-day life long ago. Particularly, I enjoyed the passage (p. 59) on how the long-distance trade in frankincense and myrrh around the time of the birth of Christ worked, including a good capsule description of what the two products actually are -- a fact I had failed to store in long-term memory, vigorous efforts of certain nuns to the contrary.
November 2, 2019
This is a book grand in scope: it tells the history of international trade, starting all the way in Bronze Age Sumer, ending in Seattle round of the WTO talks in 1999. All this in less than 400 pages!
There are some sections that felt a bit too hastily summarized (e.g. the Portuguese just seemed to take over Indian Ocean trading, without much explanation as to how they were able to do so), but overall I was impressed by Bernstein's ability to condense and still manage to include lots of detail. Not an easy task.
On the other hand, it is true the book sometimes jumps centuries (or even millenia, in the beginning of the book) ahead, skipping some bits of history that could've been included. And that would've been fine - after all, you can't include everything - except Bernstein sometimes scrutinises some relatively unimportant tafiff or trade law for page after page. It felt odd and threw the pacing.
Still, this was a good book. Bernstein often compared past situations to globalism and it's malcontents. Trade brings prosperity, but it also creates losers, and that had been true since the dawn of civilisation.
The forces of protectionism have battled against the ideology of free trade for centuries, and even longer than that. So today's situation, with trade wars starting to pick up steam, is really nothing new under the sun.
There are some sections that felt a bit too hastily summarized (e.g. the Portuguese just seemed to take over Indian Ocean trading, without much explanation as to how they were able to do so), but overall I was impressed by Bernstein's ability to condense and still manage to include lots of detail. Not an easy task.
On the other hand, it is true the book sometimes jumps centuries (or even millenia, in the beginning of the book) ahead, skipping some bits of history that could've been included. And that would've been fine - after all, you can't include everything - except Bernstein sometimes scrutinises some relatively unimportant tafiff or trade law for page after page. It felt odd and threw the pacing.
Still, this was a good book. Bernstein often compared past situations to globalism and it's malcontents. Trade brings prosperity, but it also creates losers, and that had been true since the dawn of civilisation.
The forces of protectionism have battled against the ideology of free trade for centuries, and even longer than that. So today's situation, with trade wars starting to pick up steam, is really nothing new under the sun.
August 4, 2018
“Today’s massive container ships, jet planes, the Internet, and an increasingly globalized supple and manufacturing network are just further evolutionary steps in a process that has been ongoing for the past five thousand years."
Economics 101 as told by an elderly English-wannabee uncle. Old-fashioned syntax mars a serious, in-depth study of world history as seen by an economist. (When you’re only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.)
“That not one American in a hundred has heard of [the Treaty of Nanking] does not auger well for Sino-American relations in the twenty-first century.”
Exhaustive foreword, but if you’ve read it you have his entire thesis and may dispense with the rest of the book, unless you like his wit and sarcasm, which I didn’t.
“Our urge to trade has profoundly affected the trajectory of the human species--trade directly propelled global prosperity.”
Padded with gossip and trivia. Decidedly partisan snideness. Needs a good editing.
“Although tree-trade benefits mankind in the aggregate, it also produces losers who cannot be expected to passively accept the new order.”
Economics 101 as told by an elderly English-wannabee uncle. Old-fashioned syntax mars a serious, in-depth study of world history as seen by an economist. (When you’re only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.)
“That not one American in a hundred has heard of [the Treaty of Nanking] does not auger well for Sino-American relations in the twenty-first century.”
Exhaustive foreword, but if you’ve read it you have his entire thesis and may dispense with the rest of the book, unless you like his wit and sarcasm, which I didn’t.
“Our urge to trade has profoundly affected the trajectory of the human species--trade directly propelled global prosperity.”
Padded with gossip and trivia. Decidedly partisan snideness. Needs a good editing.
“Although tree-trade benefits mankind in the aggregate, it also produces losers who cannot be expected to passively accept the new order.”
June 17, 2016
As I read this book, I felt like Bernstein was wasting my time and his. It seemed as if he didn't get to the point of the chapter until the final page of each chapter. This happened especially in the Vasco DaGama Chapter where his name wasn't even mentioned until over half way through the 30 page chapter. Each 30 page long chapter could have been summed up in about 3 sentences each. I also agree with another reviewer. This novel was barely about trade shaping the world but rather about what ancient civilizations traded. I had to read this book for my history class and it was by far, the most bland and boring history book I've read in my entire high school career.
(The content its self was not as boring as Bernstein's writing was)
(The content its self was not as boring as Bernstein's writing was)
April 29, 2021
Amazing book about trade and the alliances, wars and cultures created, broken and rebuilt. Best to read after Jared Diamond's, Guns, Germs and Steel which Bernstein lists in his bibliography. I only wish that some of the major maps had been full page landscape printed. What is most significant is how similiar we all are. "basic unit of currency of the premoedern world.... 4 gram gold coin ... about the size of a modern American dime ... French livre, Florentine florin, Spanish or Venetian ducat, Portuguese cruzado, Muslim dinar, Byzantine bezant, or late Roman solidus.
April 10, 2024
I love books that trace world history through specific lenses. This is a particularly excellent example of such a book. Views how the world evolved because of and to trade. So much sense-making in this book .info rich and entertaining. I highly recommend you read this book.
September 29, 2016
What a superb book on the origin and development of world trade from 3000 BC onwards until the 20th century! Easy reading and fully recommendable for anyone who wants to understand how trade evolved and influenced world history and how the world globalized and became “flat”.
The books starts with the silk trade, showing the important role of the Arabs in creating commerce as well as the importance of hajj and of Islam on making commerce global (and of subsequent Muslim dominance of medieval Asian trade). It then moves on to camel trade of frankincense and myrrh, moving to sea trade with silk, sandalwood, porcelain and spices and to discovery of paper in China. In parallel the author showcases global trade evolution through pieces of old stories such as the travels of Marco Polo, Akhbar al-sin wa’l hind, book of the thousand nights and a night (with the tales of Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad the sailor adventuring between Baghdad and Canton), and Chu-fan-chi. Gengis Khan´s conquest of central Asia in 13th century is described, ending with the dissolution of Mongol dynasties, which then opened the silk road between Asia and Europe and made trade grow. The most well known traders/adventures of that era were certainly Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.
The role of Chinese maritime engineering in the 12th century, as well as of the Portuguese explorers in the 15th/16th centrury and their conquest of the strategic Malacca in 15th century are covered. Spice traffic trade routes are analysed in detail. Development of Portuguese maritime sciences under the command of Infante D Henrique (Henry the navigator) in 15th century, resulted in a generation of explorers such as Bartholomeu Dias, Columbus, Fernando Magalhaes, Pedro Alvares Cabral and most importantly, following the treaty of Tordesillas, Vasco da Gama who made it around the cape of good hope and entered Calicut India (nowadays Kozhikode in the Keralan state of India) in 1498, ending the Muslim monopoly of Asian trade with the west. The Portuguese set a new spice route to Asia supported by a chain of Portuguese outposts (still visible today all the way from the Azores to Macau). It always amazes me how the tiny kingdom of Portugal controlled practically half of the world and tried to dominate the world spice trade, as well as to control the Indian ocean in the 15th-16th centrury and traded with China through the Portuguese controlled Macau (staying under Portuguese control for almost 500 years, while the Spanish traded from Manila)). Unfortunately the Portuguese Kingdom spent all of its spice money on court extravagances and on war fleet and started its decline and impoverishment…and unfortunately it must be said that the history repeated itself in this case, having Portugal nearly become bankrupt in the 21st century due to nearly same reasons…
By 1650 the global wind movement secrets were al decoded by the Spanish and the Dutch, allowing all kinds of goods and people to go around the world. With the discovery of silver deposits in Peru and Mexico, a new global monetary system was created and the publicly held corporations (born in the 17th century) also started to dominate global commerce. Growth of the Dutch (and of the Dutch East India company) in the seventeenth century was remarkable… they started striking over the Portuguese first in Recife Brazil, to start to obtain the control of the global sugar trade, and discovered the route to Java and Batavia (modern Jakarta). English East India Company (which in fact had a monopoly on Eastern trade in England until 1834) was becoming a serious challenger to the Dutch over the 17th century, starting with Francis Drake´s adventure to the spice islands in 1580. Drake captured the Portuguese vessel Santa Maria near the Cape Verde islands and brought back the southern hemisphere navigation secrets back home, and got the British started with their east bound trade route. The Dutch and the English were competing after the spices in Asia, sugar in Brazil, and slaves and gold in Africa, with mixed results as we know from history. In the early 17th century, the trade of Indian textiles ignited the Industrial Revolution, and eventually gave birth to the British Empire. By the early 17th century, the Netherlands assembled the first truly global trading system while the country itself had become the most advanced nation financially in Europe, partly due to the countrys location below sea level which obliged the country to invest and finance expesive dykes and windmills to expand and to grow. Holland also refined the futures market (buying of herrings before they were catched) and the Dutch financial system was more beneficial and interesting compared to the English one, with the ability of Dutch to borrow money, and this as such gave the Dutch economy a head start over the English. That golden era of Holland can be seen in Rembrandt´s and Vermeer´s works… Holland´s commercial power irritated the British and the resultant decline in the British economy eventually got the first Anglo Dutch wars started in 1652. England did start rising commercially again after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
in the 17th – 18th century, boats were sailing out of Europe, filled with German rope, Russian canvas, Norwegian timber, Iberian salt, French soap, English leather, Edam cheese, Newcastle coal, Dutch herring and with coins made from the new world silver. The same boats came back loaded with porcelaine, rice, spices, copper, coffee, cotton, sugar etc. World trade was in full swing and plantation economy growing. As a downside, global slave trade grew to terrible proportions (9,5 mill. slaves from Africa arrived to the new world between 1519 and late 1860´s) . Another downside of the global commerce was obviously the global spreading of plagues such as black death, and these are also covered in one chapter of the book. Protectionism and trade barriers and taxes were being created around the world to try to manipulate prices and for everyone to try to take their share of the business, examples in the new world being the stamp act, Townshend act, as well as tea act which caused havoc and which ended up in the famous boston tea party of 1773.
19th century saw a trade revolution (following the invention of the steamship, the railroad, the telegraph, refrigeration systems, and cheap high quality steel) opening up the New World and Australia. In the USA, the differing mindsets between the North protectionists versus the free trade favoring and slavery allowing Southeners, eventually ended up in the Civil War in 1861… the US trade development is covered in the book too in one chapter. By 1900, transcontinental trade of all sort (luxury and bulk products) had become part of everyday life.
The book explains some product specific trade history more in detail, as is the case for sugar, coffee opium and fabrics for example.
The last sixty pages worth of references and bibliography show the completeness and seriousness of this piece that I simply loved. All in all, a Well organized and compiled and written piece on global history of trade. Easy reading and fully recommendable for anyone who wants to understand how trade evolved and influenced world history and how the world globalized and became “flat”.
The books starts with the silk trade, showing the important role of the Arabs in creating commerce as well as the importance of hajj and of Islam on making commerce global (and of subsequent Muslim dominance of medieval Asian trade). It then moves on to camel trade of frankincense and myrrh, moving to sea trade with silk, sandalwood, porcelain and spices and to discovery of paper in China. In parallel the author showcases global trade evolution through pieces of old stories such as the travels of Marco Polo, Akhbar al-sin wa’l hind, book of the thousand nights and a night (with the tales of Ali Baba, Aladdin, and Sinbad the sailor adventuring between Baghdad and Canton), and Chu-fan-chi. Gengis Khan´s conquest of central Asia in 13th century is described, ending with the dissolution of Mongol dynasties, which then opened the silk road between Asia and Europe and made trade grow. The most well known traders/adventures of that era were certainly Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.
The role of Chinese maritime engineering in the 12th century, as well as of the Portuguese explorers in the 15th/16th centrury and their conquest of the strategic Malacca in 15th century are covered. Spice traffic trade routes are analysed in detail. Development of Portuguese maritime sciences under the command of Infante D Henrique (Henry the navigator) in 15th century, resulted in a generation of explorers such as Bartholomeu Dias, Columbus, Fernando Magalhaes, Pedro Alvares Cabral and most importantly, following the treaty of Tordesillas, Vasco da Gama who made it around the cape of good hope and entered Calicut India (nowadays Kozhikode in the Keralan state of India) in 1498, ending the Muslim monopoly of Asian trade with the west. The Portuguese set a new spice route to Asia supported by a chain of Portuguese outposts (still visible today all the way from the Azores to Macau). It always amazes me how the tiny kingdom of Portugal controlled practically half of the world and tried to dominate the world spice trade, as well as to control the Indian ocean in the 15th-16th centrury and traded with China through the Portuguese controlled Macau (staying under Portuguese control for almost 500 years, while the Spanish traded from Manila)). Unfortunately the Portuguese Kingdom spent all of its spice money on court extravagances and on war fleet and started its decline and impoverishment…and unfortunately it must be said that the history repeated itself in this case, having Portugal nearly become bankrupt in the 21st century due to nearly same reasons…
By 1650 the global wind movement secrets were al decoded by the Spanish and the Dutch, allowing all kinds of goods and people to go around the world. With the discovery of silver deposits in Peru and Mexico, a new global monetary system was created and the publicly held corporations (born in the 17th century) also started to dominate global commerce. Growth of the Dutch (and of the Dutch East India company) in the seventeenth century was remarkable… they started striking over the Portuguese first in Recife Brazil, to start to obtain the control of the global sugar trade, and discovered the route to Java and Batavia (modern Jakarta). English East India Company (which in fact had a monopoly on Eastern trade in England until 1834) was becoming a serious challenger to the Dutch over the 17th century, starting with Francis Drake´s adventure to the spice islands in 1580. Drake captured the Portuguese vessel Santa Maria near the Cape Verde islands and brought back the southern hemisphere navigation secrets back home, and got the British started with their east bound trade route. The Dutch and the English were competing after the spices in Asia, sugar in Brazil, and slaves and gold in Africa, with mixed results as we know from history. In the early 17th century, the trade of Indian textiles ignited the Industrial Revolution, and eventually gave birth to the British Empire. By the early 17th century, the Netherlands assembled the first truly global trading system while the country itself had become the most advanced nation financially in Europe, partly due to the countrys location below sea level which obliged the country to invest and finance expesive dykes and windmills to expand and to grow. Holland also refined the futures market (buying of herrings before they were catched) and the Dutch financial system was more beneficial and interesting compared to the English one, with the ability of Dutch to borrow money, and this as such gave the Dutch economy a head start over the English. That golden era of Holland can be seen in Rembrandt´s and Vermeer´s works… Holland´s commercial power irritated the British and the resultant decline in the British economy eventually got the first Anglo Dutch wars started in 1652. England did start rising commercially again after the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
in the 17th – 18th century, boats were sailing out of Europe, filled with German rope, Russian canvas, Norwegian timber, Iberian salt, French soap, English leather, Edam cheese, Newcastle coal, Dutch herring and with coins made from the new world silver. The same boats came back loaded with porcelaine, rice, spices, copper, coffee, cotton, sugar etc. World trade was in full swing and plantation economy growing. As a downside, global slave trade grew to terrible proportions (9,5 mill. slaves from Africa arrived to the new world between 1519 and late 1860´s) . Another downside of the global commerce was obviously the global spreading of plagues such as black death, and these are also covered in one chapter of the book. Protectionism and trade barriers and taxes were being created around the world to try to manipulate prices and for everyone to try to take their share of the business, examples in the new world being the stamp act, Townshend act, as well as tea act which caused havoc and which ended up in the famous boston tea party of 1773.
19th century saw a trade revolution (following the invention of the steamship, the railroad, the telegraph, refrigeration systems, and cheap high quality steel) opening up the New World and Australia. In the USA, the differing mindsets between the North protectionists versus the free trade favoring and slavery allowing Southeners, eventually ended up in the Civil War in 1861… the US trade development is covered in the book too in one chapter. By 1900, transcontinental trade of all sort (luxury and bulk products) had become part of everyday life.
The book explains some product specific trade history more in detail, as is the case for sugar, coffee opium and fabrics for example.
The last sixty pages worth of references and bibliography show the completeness and seriousness of this piece that I simply loved. All in all, a Well organized and compiled and written piece on global history of trade. Easy reading and fully recommendable for anyone who wants to understand how trade evolved and influenced world history and how the world globalized and became “flat”.
May 18, 2018
Sách gì mà đọc miệt mài mà mãi không thấy hết :)))))
Sách cung cấp nhiều Thông tin và kiến thức bổ ích, cho người đọc một cái nhìn toàn cảnh về thương mại nhân loại từ thuở sơ khai cho đến hiện đại. Đầu tiên là thương mại tự phát từ thời người Sumer cả nghìn năm trước công nguyên, qua đến thời manh nha buôn bán có tổ chức hơn của nhân loại với vải vóc tơ lụa cùng con đường tơ lụa nổi tiếng, đến kỉ nguyên gia vị với các eo biển và sự phát triển của hàng hải thay cho đường bộ, rồi lại nhường cho kỉ nguyên các sản phẩm công nghiệp bông, mía đường, trà gắn liền với cuộc cách mạng công nghiệp của thế giới và cuối cùng là đến nền tự do thương mại toàn cầu như ngày nay. Đọc chương cuối nói về sự hình thành và phát triển của tự do thương mại toàn cầu cứ như đang nghe giảng bài môn thương mại quốc tế khi còn ngồi giảng đường đại học ấy =)))
Tuy nhiên cách hành văn của tác giả dài dòng và đôi khi không liên kết, làm mình đọc rất dễ mất tập trung và rất khó hiểu hết ý của cuốn sách, tác giả lại không có tóm lược các ý chính mình muốn nói, sách lại truyền tải quá nhiều thông tin trong khi kiến thức của bản thân mình về lịch sử và dịa lý thế giới (nhất là giai đoạn từ thế kỉ XVIII trở về trước) rất chi là hạn hẹp nên mình không thể hấp thụ hết được những tinh hoa của nó, chỉ là những thời kì/ đề tài nào hấp dẫn mình thì mình mới thấm được hết ấy, ví dụ như Sách có nhắc đến việc hồi giáo đã ra đời như thế nào và thương mại đã làm tôn giáo này thay đổi ra sao, hoặc những thấy đổi về hình dáng chính trị thế giới do thương mại thời kì đó góp phần.
Nói chung là tầm 2.5* đến 3*
Sách cung cấp nhiều Thông tin và kiến thức bổ ích, cho người đọc một cái nhìn toàn cảnh về thương mại nhân loại từ thuở sơ khai cho đến hiện đại. Đầu tiên là thương mại tự phát từ thời người Sumer cả nghìn năm trước công nguyên, qua đến thời manh nha buôn bán có tổ chức hơn của nhân loại với vải vóc tơ lụa cùng con đường tơ lụa nổi tiếng, đến kỉ nguyên gia vị với các eo biển và sự phát triển của hàng hải thay cho đường bộ, rồi lại nhường cho kỉ nguyên các sản phẩm công nghiệp bông, mía đường, trà gắn liền với cuộc cách mạng công nghiệp của thế giới và cuối cùng là đến nền tự do thương mại toàn cầu như ngày nay. Đọc chương cuối nói về sự hình thành và phát triển của tự do thương mại toàn cầu cứ như đang nghe giảng bài môn thương mại quốc tế khi còn ngồi giảng đường đại học ấy =)))
Tuy nhiên cách hành văn của tác giả dài dòng và đôi khi không liên kết, làm mình đọc rất dễ mất tập trung và rất khó hiểu hết ý của cuốn sách, tác giả lại không có tóm lược các ý chính mình muốn nói, sách lại truyền tải quá nhiều thông tin trong khi kiến thức của bản thân mình về lịch sử và dịa lý thế giới (nhất là giai đoạn từ thế kỉ XVIII trở về trước) rất chi là hạn hẹp nên mình không thể hấp thụ hết được những tinh hoa của nó, chỉ là những thời kì/ đề tài nào hấp dẫn mình thì mình mới thấm được hết ấy, ví dụ như Sách có nhắc đến việc hồi giáo đã ra đời như thế nào và thương mại đã làm tôn giáo này thay đổi ra sao, hoặc những thấy đổi về hình dáng chính trị thế giới do thương mại thời kì đó góp phần.
Nói chung là tầm 2.5* đến 3*
August 13, 2022
It takes quite a commitment to read this book. It is just under 400 pages of quite dense print. The style lacks the accessibility of a novel, but avoids the dryness of a purely academic tome. It is somewhere between the two. Despite these objections, this is my second reading of the book. It probably won't be my last because it is such a significant work.
The stretch of the book is immense. It encompasses the whole of the history of humanity, from the pre-historic to the present. It examines one of the core urges of humanity - to truck, trade and barter. And it looks at one of the key decision points for communities - to trade, raid, or conquer. Each of these motives, both the individual and the collective, fit together to drive growth, development, and prosperity.
The narrative is descriptive rather than analytical, but the reader is guided into drawing their own conclusions. The motives are fairly self-orientated and don't really cater for the possibility of unselfish motives such as love or altruism. However, as presented, the facts fit the viewpoint of the self-absorbed trader much better that the trader who undertakes those activities for the love of their fellow men. In this respect, it gives us an insight into the human condition.
It would seem that humanity has always wanted what it doesn't have. One way to satisfy our desires is to simply take them (the raid option). Another is to swap for them (the trade option). And the third possibility is to acquire the ability to produce them ourselves (the conquer option). This provides a model to view human development, which is quite persuasive.
At various times in history various communities have become dominant. Some - such as the Spice Islands corner - the production of a much sought after commodity. Some - such as the Islamic nations - sit across a key trade route. Some - such as the European nations - have been able to deploy superior technologies in the pursuit of trade. What they all have in common is their rise and fall as the excluded communities find a way to work around this dominance. This is an interesting lens to view the rise and fall of Empires over the centuries.
It also helps us consider the direction in which we are heading. An era of nationalism and trade restrictions is not likely to be stable in the long term. People will find a work around and undermine the restrictions to trade. A world without tea, or cotton, or oil seems unthinkable now. This book explains why that is.
I managed to get so much from this book. I am really lad to have read it and I plan to read it again when I need to be reminded of what drives human progress.
The stretch of the book is immense. It encompasses the whole of the history of humanity, from the pre-historic to the present. It examines one of the core urges of humanity - to truck, trade and barter. And it looks at one of the key decision points for communities - to trade, raid, or conquer. Each of these motives, both the individual and the collective, fit together to drive growth, development, and prosperity.
The narrative is descriptive rather than analytical, but the reader is guided into drawing their own conclusions. The motives are fairly self-orientated and don't really cater for the possibility of unselfish motives such as love or altruism. However, as presented, the facts fit the viewpoint of the self-absorbed trader much better that the trader who undertakes those activities for the love of their fellow men. In this respect, it gives us an insight into the human condition.
It would seem that humanity has always wanted what it doesn't have. One way to satisfy our desires is to simply take them (the raid option). Another is to swap for them (the trade option). And the third possibility is to acquire the ability to produce them ourselves (the conquer option). This provides a model to view human development, which is quite persuasive.
At various times in history various communities have become dominant. Some - such as the Spice Islands corner - the production of a much sought after commodity. Some - such as the Islamic nations - sit across a key trade route. Some - such as the European nations - have been able to deploy superior technologies in the pursuit of trade. What they all have in common is their rise and fall as the excluded communities find a way to work around this dominance. This is an interesting lens to view the rise and fall of Empires over the centuries.
It also helps us consider the direction in which we are heading. An era of nationalism and trade restrictions is not likely to be stable in the long term. People will find a work around and undermine the restrictions to trade. A world without tea, or cotton, or oil seems unthinkable now. This book explains why that is.
I managed to get so much from this book. I am really lad to have read it and I plan to read it again when I need to be reminded of what drives human progress.
March 3, 2023
I've read a considerable number of books on trade, whether broad overviews, or on specific aspects, and this book was a good overview of all of them. There were several economic insights that were new to me; I appreciate that they were easy to understand, as numbers are not something I can consider in the abstract. If you're just getting started reading about trade, it's a great resource, and would be an excellent refresher as well. There was a definite liberal slant that came out towards the end, which was necessarily a problem - the author is not thoroughly objective, and that might irritate some readers. Some subjects are completely skipped, i.e., salt, the Viking slave trade, and the conquest of the Americas. The worldwide slave trade is only touched upon briefly, but then again this is a book about how trade shaped the world, and broadness works better. Silk, opium, sugar - these are given more attention. The most specific focus is on tariffs and economic theories, which allows for chapters on wheat and currency.
August 1, 2010
If a history of trade from the Silk Road to the WTO doesn't sound like your thing, well, this book is not for you. If it is, Bernstein does a good job not letting details distract from the big picture, like history books do sometimes. The story is generally chronological, but chapters are organized by topic (silk, spices, slaves, cotton, etc) so there is a lot of overlap and some repetition, which is very helpful for remembering who's in power when. This was endorsed by the Economist, and so the author predictably comes down strongly for free trade and against protectionism. At some times, it feels almost apologetic- 19th century English cotton mills weren't so bad for the children working in them? opium wasn't such a big deal, and the feeble Chinese government had it coming anyway? - but for the most part he backs up arguments pretty convincingly, and also does a decent job addressing the problems created by globalization. Definitely worth reading.
April 11, 2011
This was a general history of the positive role of trade in human society. It is not a specialist view and the author has read considerable amount of material. He does a good job in bringing it together and wisely chooses to tone down his treatment after the 19th century - the high tide of free trade. I found this the most interesting in the discussion of the development of trade in the Indian Ocean in the middle ages and after the West moved in. He doesn't talk enough about politics, yet that is absolutely crucial for the spread of "free trade". If you haven't read a lot of history, this will be a lot to digest - as it is even if you have read a lot of history. I like more specialist accounts, such as Findlay and O'Rourke's Power and Plenty. This was OK, however, and made me appreciate the Findlay book when I read it. I read the Bernstein book while at the beach in New Jersey and it fit well there.
July 30, 2011
Absolutely a must read. Concise economic history with great flow and loads of new information for almost all but the most academic. Brilliant short recounting of things ranging from medieval Europe, Islam’s golden years to opium war, spice island saga, Amsterdam rise, crusades, imperialism in India, US civil war etc etc. Even if somewhat biased, this is a must read for anyone in financial markets who need a bit of historic backdrop.
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