There are many ways to look at the world, as it is, as it was and as it could be. If you look at the world as is was you need to find some very common elements which all societies need to live and evolve. A very interesting book is called Salt – A World History written by Mark Kurlansky published by Walker and Company, NY, 2002. For generations of people, the table salt which is found on dining room tables was one of the most important drivers of the world’s economy. Although salt is found almost everywhere in the world for centuries salt was desperately searched for, traded for and fought for.

If you think about the city of Salzburg, Austria you might think of Mozart, Castles, Churches, Palaces but you not likely to think what does Salzburg mean? It stands for Salt Town and because of the mountain of salt that is mined nearby, the city grew to the city it has become. The wealth of the city for the government was the salt which was mined and traded around Europe.

In thinking about the Roman Empire, most Italian cities were found close to salt works. In Rome they built a shallow pond to hold seawater until the sun evaporated it into salt crystals. The first of the great Rome roads, the Via Salaria or Salt Road was built to bring salt throughout Italy. Salt was sometimes paid as a salary for the soldier which is the origin for the word salary and the expression worth his salt. The Latin word sal became the French word solde, meaning pay, which is the origin of the word soldier.

To the Romans, salt was a necessary part of empire building and where ever they went they developed salt works. The Roman’s genius was administration not the inventing but the scale of the operation.

After the Romans fell, the next power center to evolve was centered in Venice. Originally they had salt works for the shape of Venice was different. The Italian mainland was 25 miles away and the area was known as the 7 Seas. Sometime after a series of floods and storms the landscape changed and Venice was forced to import salt. They made an important discovery – more money could be made buying and selling salt than producing it. The merchants of Venice were subsidized of salt landing in Venice from other areas. However, because of the policy of even though salt was expensive in Venice, the merchants could make up more on spice and grain trades.

The Venetian government took a profit from regulating its trade and during the 14th and 16th centuries when Venice was a leading port of grains and spices, between 30 and 50% of the tonnage of imports was salt. Where ever the merchants went, they tried to dominate the supply, control the salt works and acquire them if necessary. Venice manipulated markets by controlling production. Adding to their control was the Venetian navy patrolled the seas, stopped ships, inspected cargo and demanded licenses to make sure all commercial traffic was conforming with its regulations.

As long as the commercial traffic was the Mediterranean Sea, Venice controlled the salt trade, however when ships went around Africa and began to go to North American, Venice lost control the salt market. Other cities grew to cater to the trade shift.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the Romans and the Venetians understood control of the raw materials or gain a monopoly on salt to profit. To have a monopoly took the use of the state’s resources for the greater good. It is no different today, if you find a monopoly or near monopoly enhanced by government (ie utilities) for a long time they will be good investments.

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