An audience remark about East India Company corruption prompts a distinction between its external conduct and internal financial discipline. The company could corrupt other people while treating losses caused by its own employees as unacceptable. Patronage still created a tolerated level of favoritism within the expectations of the period. Crossing the boundary into conduct that harmed the company's finances could destroy a person's career. The argument concerns the company's incentives, without treating commercial efficiency as a defense of its wider conduct.
Notable Point · 20:00-20:44
Patronage and financial discipline in the East India Company
The company tolerated patronage and corrupting outsiders while resisting internal corruption that damaged its own returns.