Staggering. A brilliant new essay by Utsa Patnaik published by Columbia University Press argues that Britain drained a net total of nearly $10 trillion from India during the years 1765 to 1938. See thread for argument. cup.columbia.edu/book/agrarian-…
1/ The British strategy was to forcibly tax Indians, and then use a portion of that money to buy their products from them. So Britain acquired Indian goods effectively for free.
2/ During the East India Company period, Britain re-exported these stolen goods elsewhere for prices higher than that which they "paid". So the actual market price of the products went to Britain, rather than to the Indian producers.
3/ After 1833, the British strategy was to promote the flow of Indian products (like opium, which Britain forced Indian farmers to grow) to China and other countries with which Britain had a trade deficit. So India was used to finance Britain's trade deficits.
4/ When gold was paid for Indian products by end-consumers, it was intercepted by London rather than going to Indian producers themselves.
5/ For perspective, $10 trillion is more than three times the size of Britain's annual GDP today.
The essay illuminates a system that was intricate and disturbing - well worth a read.
The essay illuminates a system that was intricate and disturbing - well worth a read.
