This conversation delves into the concept of 'informal empires' and challenges the notion that these empires feel 'informal' to those under their influence. It argues that historians, particularly in the West, might minimize the impact of informal empires, which, in reality, exert significant control and governance, often through private enterprises rather than state mechanisms.

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.

About Phil Stern: https://scholars.duke.edu/person/philip.stern/

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