'The original military-industrial complex'

...was the Dutch version of the East India Company

Headquarters of the Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie, the Dutch version of the East India Company. By Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde – http://hdl.handle.net/11259/collection.38024, Public Domain

Founded in 1602, just a couple of years after the English established the East India Company, the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), or the United East India Company had a monopoly over Dutch operations in Asia until its demise in 1796.

It sent a million people to Asia, more than all of Europe, had a fleet of nearly 5,000 ships, was larger than some countries, and has been described by Bryan Taylor of Global Financial Data as “the original military-industrial complex”.

The Data piece also says that the VOC “transformed financial capitalism forever” by introducing “limited liability for its shareholders which enabled the firm to fund large scale operations.” It also paid high dividends, sometimes in kind, rather than in money. In 1605, it paid dividends of 15 per cent of capital, in 1606 75 …