I recently stumbled upon a rather old TEDx talk by Tao Tan. Tao discusses a few interesting topics. First, he discusses the presence of many modern business institutions, including stock exchanges and private equity. In itself, this is very interesting. These institutions appeared 2000 years ago and then disappeared before making a comeback in the last few centuries. It raises some interesting questions as to why there was such a lag in redevelopment. But we do see a similar pattern with many other Roman and Greek technologies where they have to be redeveloped after over a thousand years of absence. 

Next, Tao Tan emphasizes an interesting phenomenon, where publicani, basically public contractors, were put in charge of many projects that modern governments are normally in charge of: tax collection, construction, fire departments, etc. These would often become exploitative, take the fire brigades of Crassus who would charge monumental fees to put out fires or simply buy up the burned-out land. Ultimately, many of these were stopped by Augustus who put those functions under imperial control. However, Tao points out that this dynamic serves as a warning for the proper division between state and business. He urges us to remain vigilant about the actions of both entities and be mindful of their respective boundaries.

Watch the talk here: TEDx East Hampton – Tao Tan on the Stock Market in Ancient Rome