Trade

The Silk Road existed for centuries before the Mongols. But under Mongol protection, trade volume multiplied. Here's how security, infrastructure, and policy combined to create history's first commercial superhighway.

After the destruction came something unexpected: a continental trading system that connected Europe to China for the first time. The Pax Mongolica created the conditions for the first true globalization – and changed the world forever.

What your dinner plate reveals about markets, power, and the future of work. A series exploring how everyday foods expose the hidden forces shaping our economy—from the care economy to corporate power, from automation to trade wars.

Examining the economic returns and resource flows generated by crusading for different institutional actors.

The box that changed everything: how standardized shipping containers created the global economy.

Discover how Venice built an empire on salt monopolies, outmaneuvering Genoa in the Adriatic and establishing the foundations of modern commerce.

From ancient Chinese salt wars to the first brine wells, discover how salt became the cornerstone of civilization and state power.

From the pink rock of Cardona to the foundations of empires, discover how salt shaped human civilization, economies, and even our superstitions.