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SUMMARY:Why Was the Manila Galleon Only One-Ship Trade? - Alejandra Irigoi
 n (London School of Economics)
DTSTART:20190430T160000Z
DTEND:20190430T173000Z
UID:TALK123955@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Gareth Austin
DESCRIPTION:Among the institutions the Europeans had in their trade with E
 ast India in the early modern period the Manila Galleon stands out: for ov
 er 200 years a single large ship travelled back and forth from Mexico carr
 ying a trade of a comparable size to the other Europeans in India or China
 . This commercial structure\, which was mostly private and locally run and
  persisted for so long challenging notions of\nefficiency\, does not sit w
 ell with institutionalists' characterizations of Spanish colonialism as pr
 edatory or the depiction of a self-restrained ruler purposely limiting the
  trade\, as galleon historians portray. The essay explores the reasons for
  this peculiar version of mercantilism in East\nAsia: was it really that o
 f an allegedly reluctant or an extractive monopolist? Why was the galleon 
 a one-ship only scheme? In the absence of robust quantitative evidence on 
 the size\, volume and values of the trade the paper offers an analytical n
 arrative for the persistence of this particular commercial institution. Se
 ction one offers an overview of the galleon as a vehicle for the Spanish E
 ast India trade. It gauges various estimators of performance to assess the
  efficiency of the scheme. Section two discusses the institutional structu
 re of the trade and its particular entanglement with the Spanish governanc
 e of Manila. Section three delves in the nature of the private institution
 s\, agents and contracts involved and unravels the particular financing of
  the trade\, revealing economic reasons for\nsuch a limited trade. The con
 clusions offer answers to the questions posed above.
LOCATION:Gonville &amp\; Caius College\, Cambridge: the Green Room
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