A quiz question · medium
What financial innovation is the Dutch East India Company (VOC) credited with in 1602?
Amsterdam's exchange — and recognisably modern stock trading, including short-selling — grew around VOC shares. The company also held state powers: it could wage war, sign treaties, and govern colonies.
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The Dutch East India Company (VOC) The Dutch East India Company (VOC), chartered in 1602, was the world's first joint-stock company with freely tradable shares and, in effect, a state at sea: empowered to wage war, sign treaties, and govern territory. It monopolised the spice trade with ruthless force — the Banda massacre above all — and collapsed in debt in 1799.
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