几百年前的东印度公司,发明了股票的雏形
在16-17世纪的大航海时代初期,跨洋贸易的发展潜力巨大。当时很多荷兰人在东印度群岛一带做香料生意,为了让回国的香料能卖出好价钱,荷兰商人们在1602年建立了东印度公司,以垄断该海域的所有贸易。
不过虽然海外贸易非常赚钱,可出海往往需要大量资金去建船,即使是东印度公司也要向外借钱才能维持船队的开支。而且,当时出海的危险性很高,万一船沉了或者被海盗劫了,公司不但赚不上钱,而且连还债的能力也没有了。
于是,东印度公司就想出了一种新的借钱方式:我们借的款项没有固定利息,也没有约定归还本金的时间。你将一直都是我的债主,我每次出海回来都会给你支付利息。
如果我赚得多,你赚得利息也会多,我保证远超过一般的贷款利率;如果我没赚到钱,你也赚不到利息,然而这非常少见;如果我亏光了,你的本金就拿不回去,但这几乎不可能发生。
简而言之,他们募集资金的口号就是:“如果你相信我能赚很多钱,就应该借钱给我!”
打着这一旗号,东印度公司就向荷兰全体公众借钱(公开募集资金,也就是现在的IPO),借条的名字就是“股票”,债主的名字就叫做 “股东”,利息的名字就叫做 “股息 / 红利”。那时的公众持有股票的目的只有一个——分享东印度公司的成长红利。
当然,有了钱的东印度公司也很给力,开辟了众多新航线,贸易量蹭蹭的上升。虽然当时的扩张在今天看来是罪恶的殖民,不过它对股东却很实诚——公司创立的前一百年间,每年的分红高达12%-63%。
正是因为这种新兴的 “借钱模式”,让东印度公司的发展速度比过去的独立海上商队增加了数十倍甚至上百倍,也让远洋航海技术的成熟速度加快了好几倍,让大量的货品、文化在东西方之间流转。而在他们赚钱的百多年间,股票理财模式也让荷兰民众的财富积累速度增加了好几倍,将社会的财富聚集在一点上,产生了惊人的爆发力,推动了文明技术的发展。
其实东印度公司发明股票的雏形这一故事,也正是深刻地告诫了我们:光靠勤奋工作、存钱,资本的累积速度是远追不上通胀的,只有学会运用股票这类理财手法“钱生钱”,才能大幅提高财富增值速率,甚至推动社会经济飞速发展哦!
本文来源: 大田环球贵金属
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