Ep. 3 - Big Tech Firms vs. Nation-States: What History Teaches Us, Feat. Philip Stern

In this episode of The Great Tech Game podcast, host Anirudh Suri is joined by Phil Stern, professor of history at Duke University, to dive into the history of colonial corporations such as East India Company and what that might teach us about how the current tug of war between nation-states and big tech firms such as Apple and Google might play out.

Stern and Suri together delve into the history of joint stock corporations and trading empires of corporations such as East India Company and others. They explore how these joint stock corporations of the 17th and 18th centuries were critical in the rise of colonial empires, but eventually ran afoul of their patrons and political masters. They discuss how the attempt of the British Crown, for example, to regulate the activities of the East India Company played out, and what lessons that holds for today's attempt by countries like the US, India and Europe to regulate Big Tech firms.

What are the parallels between the British empire and the US empire? How have corporations historically resisted regulation? What tools have they used? How have nation-states or governments leveraged their political power to rein in these private corporations? Will today's tech firms align with or evade geopolitical rivalries? Are we destined for a bi-polar world? What role will India play in these tech-driven geopolitical battles? These are some of the questions Stern and Suri grapple with in this episode.

Chapters:

01:18 - Intro ends

01:18 to 03:41 - A summary about what the entire discussion is going to be around

03:45 to 08:23 - Venture Colonialism

08:28 to 09:47  - What was different about the corporations formed around the 1600's?

09:48 to 11:43  - The early Joint Stock Corporations vs. Merchant guilds

11:44 to  13:43  - What are joint stocks and corporations?

13:44 to 17:13  - Competition between the European states

17:15 to 19:06  - Improvisation in Navigation Technology

19:08 to  24:12 - Deep diving into Joint Stock concept, and its implications for society

24:24 to 29:15 -  The Tug of War between State and Pvt corporations

29:34 to  31:26 - Functions of the state vs corporations

31:37 to 33:44 - Institutional Innovations, regulating sovereign function

33:55 to 41:50 - Lessons for today: How can Nations regulate private corporations?

42:07 to 42:56 - Parallels with companies today

43:16 to  45:40 - Parallels between the British Empire and the US Empire today. 

45:52 to 52:31  - Could the US govt ever take over Google or FB like the British Crown took over EIC?

52:35 to 56:22 - Formal vs informal empires; Oil Empires, Private Empires; The US Empire: A Private or Public Empire?

57:01 to 1:04:02  - Is today's US-China rivalry like the British-French rivalry of yesteryear? | Will today's tech firms align with or evade trends in geopolitical rivalries? |

The Case of India: Are we destined for a bipolar world, again?

1:04:06 - Closing remarks: Phil's book and podcast guest recommendations