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Which made Capitalism possible.
(Accidentally) The Limited Liability Partnership
Which allows us to fix it. "The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson
The first multinational LLC was invented by the Dutch in 1602 (The Dutch East Indies Company). "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
A Corporate body is a legal entity which has a continuing legal existence INDEPENDENT of its members. A Partnership may have a separate legal existence, but this is DEPENDENT on its Members - so a partnership ceases to exist when the penultimate partner leaves.
A Corporate body is a "legal person" able to "own" assets and enter into contracts in exactly the same way as an individual.
Joint Stock Companies are a much later innovation. I was aware of the Dutch East India Company, and had thought it the first such "Joint Stock" Company. Fascinated to read of the Bazacle entity therefore.
But I was in fact referring to the Limited Liability Company ("the Corporation") as the bedrock of Capitalism - all Companies prior to the UK legislation - the Limited Liability Act of 1855 - had unlimited liability, as far as I know.
BTW an LLC is something else again - the US Limited Liability Company is not actually a Corporate body (like the Joint Stock Limited Liability "Corporation"), but is an interesting beast in its own right, with many of the good qualities of a partnership. "The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson
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