I know that a relatively complex capitalist economy has existed prior to the advent of inter-continental instant-communication systems (telegraph, telephone, radio/TV, and now computer communications). The basics of today's financial system - that is, shares, stocks, banks, stock exchanges, public (i.e. issuing stocks) companies and corporations - exist in our world, in one form or another, for more than three centuries. Traveller shares one key elements of these economies which have existed without instantaneous global communications - the key element of communications being limited to the speed of travel. So we might learn from these past societies about the ways in which the Traveller economy would adapt to the comm-lag.
So here are some of my questions on this subject:
1) How were the age-of-sail (and early industrial age) corporations organized? That is, how did the central board (if there was such a thing) handle affairs on the local branches, sometimes a world away?
2) I know that in the 19th century (atleast) you could buy stocks in a western stock exchange (say, in London) for enterprises in the colonial or semi-colonial world (say, railroads in India). So how would the brokers in the west know about the economical situations (especially profits) of their investments in the colonies? How often would updates come? How did this effect the rate of stock price changes?
3) How was money transfered internationally, that is from investers in one country to contractors or suppliers in another?
4) How was stock ownership registered? By hardcopy certificates? where could you buy or sell them (only at the exchange itself?)
5) Another point of interest is that, in a Traveller setting, local (i.e. on the same world) investments would give the invester on-demand information (given TL6+), while interstellar investments would be handeled over a comm lag... How would that effect the stock market?
So here are some of my questions on this subject:
1) How were the age-of-sail (and early industrial age) corporations organized? That is, how did the central board (if there was such a thing) handle affairs on the local branches, sometimes a world away?
2) I know that in the 19th century (atleast) you could buy stocks in a western stock exchange (say, in London) for enterprises in the colonial or semi-colonial world (say, railroads in India). So how would the brokers in the west know about the economical situations (especially profits) of their investments in the colonies? How often would updates come? How did this effect the rate of stock price changes?
3) How was money transfered internationally, that is from investers in one country to contractors or suppliers in another?
4) How was stock ownership registered? By hardcopy certificates? where could you buy or sell them (only at the exchange itself?)
5) Another point of interest is that, in a Traveller setting, local (i.e. on the same world) investments would give the invester on-demand information (given TL6+), while interstellar investments would be handeled over a comm lag... How would that effect the stock market?