Abstract

This article argues that entrepreneurs, not governments ormarkets, shaped globalization during the early nineteenthcentury. The article concentrates on the trading and financialactivities of London merchant bankers, and in particular onthe different diversication strategies they followed. Althoughmost London merchant bankers remained cautious and didnot diversify their operations either geographically or in theproducts they traded during this period, Huth & Co. estab-lished an impressive global network of trade and lending,dealing with over six thousand correspondents worldwide ina wide range of products. This firm shaped globalization well before the transport and communication revolution of thelast quarter of the nineteenth century.