The book The Edge of the World by Michael Pye published by Penguin Books, London, UK, 2014  is about the countries and events of the North Sea in Europe. If you went back to Roman times, all the maps would be centered around either Rome or Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea. To go beyond would be to fall off the edge of the world? at this time of the world, in many circles the world was considered flat. We often believe the world is centered this way and trade routes came from China to Constantinople (Istanbul) to Venice and then made its way to Paris and in reality much of the trade did go that way. In the book about the North Sea – another trade route is discussed the route via the Rhine to the Netherlands.

Traders no matter where they are in the world deal with ratios. In the logistics industry the ratios are ratios between shiploads, ratios between wood and wool, grain and pots, wine and iron, so that everyone could understand them and use them the next market day. The traders calculated the content of their ships, their goods at a fair, they turned the very physical world of barges and cargo into numbers. The sea which carried their business also brought ideas, books, thinkers back and forth and carried the idea of what we now consider normal – the use of money.

One of the many thinkers of the time is Robert Grosseteste, he was inventing our idea of science. Mr. Grosseteste presented many ideas, testing theories, finding some false, proving some things impossible, insisting on combining observations and ideas.

The merchants of the North Sea known as Hansa was a cartel of towns on the Baltic more or less German-speaking which banded together to keep their ships safe, making sure they were well treated in foreign ports, and get as close to the perfect state of traders: monopoly. The Hansa acquired power without the ceremony and pretence of kings and without the sense of responsibility. The Hansa was townspeople with only two things in mind: trade and profit to be made from it, and as long as the ships were sailing on the Hansa’s terms there was no need for talk. Hansa lived from the water: sea ports like Bremen, Hamburg and Cologne. Almost everywhere else power, and title and position depended on land: estates or kingdoms, the income from rents,  the service of serfs. In the water towns, the only source of wealth was trading outwards or offshore.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there are other stories covered in the book, but most important is the perspective. Most of us learn of one method, but in reality there are more methods. The start of the book talks about trade going around the Mediterranean Sea which we all learn about, in reality they were other important trade routes. Understanding this means you can ask different questions. An example is Amazon who delivers packages – where do they deliver them? who was serving the market before and at what cost? You begin to see the world that exists and could be invested in differently an if you can do that – once in a while you will ride into the sunset on your terms.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

T