"Pirate Economics" applies the way of thinking of economics to pirates.

The Pirate Economics applied the "economic way of thinking" to Pirates. This mode of thinking is based on several straightforward assumptions.

First, the individual is selfish. This is not to say that people never care about others other than themselves, but that most of us, most of the time, are more concerned with how to benefit ourselves and the people closest to them, rather than how to benefit others.

Secondly, the individual is rational. This is not to say that people are robots that never make mistakes, but that people try to achieve their selfish goals in the best way they know.

Again, individuals are driven by incentives. This activity is reduced when the cost of an activity increases, and when the cost of the activity declines, people do it more frequently. When the benefits of an activity increase, we will be more enthusiastic about this activity, and when the benefits of the activity are reduced, we will reduce the activity. Simply put, people try to avoid all kinds of costs and try to gain a variety of benefits at the same time.

The above three assumptions about the way of thinking of economics are also established in pirates. Pirates, for example, are selfish, and it is the material concerns that have spawned pirates, and profits are pushing pirates behind them. Contrary to the description of popular culture, pirates are actually very rational. As we look carefully behind this book, we find that the pirates have devised ingenious ways to circumvent the costs that would erode their profits, and to increase the profits of their burning and looting tours, and that some of these methods have made them notorious. Similarly, pirates respond to incentives. When the law increases the risk of a pirate's career (and therefore costs rise), the pirates come up with clever ways to counteract the risks. When pirates offer gang members incentives to participate in the highest level of piracy, the gang members will be more hardworking and eager for the next big prize.

In fact, not only can economics be applied to pirates, but the "rational choice" that economists put forward is the only way to understand the blatant antics of pirates who have shocked the world.

Why did the Pirates put up their skull-banner, why would they torture certain captives, and how could they be successful pirates, and why should they make a "pirate charter"? All of this can be found in the economics behind the pirates, and to find these answers, we can only use the "rational choice" system. History provides "raw materials" that can lead to these problems, and economics provides an analysis of "lenses" that help to find answers.

When we look at pirates through these lenses, what appears to be a very unusual behavior is commonplace. The strange behavior of the pirates is that they are in an unconventional economic environment (it is this unconventional economic environment that brings extraordinary costs and benefits), rather than their own innate eccentric temperament. As the subsequent chapters of this book show, a pirate ship is more like a Fortune 500 company than a vicious, brutal school gang portrayed by William Golding in the book Lord of the Flies. "Golding" is the same. Apart from their prosthetic limbs and the parrots on their shoulders, the pirate business is a trade, and although it is a warrants business, it is a business, so it is worth looking at from a business perspective.

The following is called Reader Li's feelings about "piracy is also a business":

A pirate ship, in fact, more like a Fortune 500 companies, apart from their prosthetic limbs and the parrot on the shoulder to see, the pirate is a business after all, although this is a warrants business, but at least it is a business, so it is worth from the business perspective to look at.

One of the main obstacles that pirates face when trying to maximise profits on a grab trip is to reduce costs. The cost of piracy, in addition to the costs involved in war with potential prey, is to reduce violence as much as possible, because fighting with target prey means that the crew is likely to have casualties. The result of the violent battle is that the pirate ship is likely to be damaged, the pirate ship is stolen, and if the hull is damaged it is not easy to grab another one, and maintenance will take time and money. And if the war is not guaranteed, it will damage the spoils. In some extreme cases, the target ships will also be sunk, resulting in the loss of the entire ship's spoils.

In order to reduce costs while capturing prey, the pirates managed to get the victim to surrender without using violence. It is not easy to do this, and the merchant ships are not without a fight, and the pirate ships are generally one-third more hands and firepower than the merchant ships. To this end, the Pirates of the West Indies in the 17th century first rose to the red pirate flag, sending a message to the prey that they would have no mercy if their prey dared to resist. By the 18th century, the red pirate flag was replaced by a black flag, usually embroidered with skull skulls and other bone-woven motifs, the most popular "Happy Roger" flag.

People who have seen the movie Pirates of the Caribbean know that the banner of the nine major pirates are different, although the use of a variety of flags, but the purpose behind each flag is the same. The hourglass suggests that there is little time left, and swords and skeletons suggest that the rebels die. The signal that the pirate flag sends to the target is a group of people who are not bound, and if the crew dares to resist, they may kill all the people.

Modern companies have also spent a lot of money to hire experts to help them design logos and slogans, but few have been able to gain a high level of brand recognition without expert assistance, as pirates do. The Pirates ' Black Flag skeletons are more widely known than the McDonald's logo. To make this sign alive, the pirates are going to make a contribution, slaughter the resistance, let go of the people who surrender peacefully, and make a frantic effort to look cruel.

Building a brand is important for any successful business, and for pirates, how pirates spread their brand, they use the same way as modern businesses: Word-of-mouth and advertising. The Pirates ' victims and the 18th century newspapers unwittingly acted as pirates ' spokesmen, spreading and shaping the reputation of the pirates ' fearsome and violent lunatics.

The Boston Newsletter reported that those merchant seamen who had resisted were brutally slaughtered, and the Pirates showed no mercy to them, which frightened our sailors, so they refused to resist the pirates. This is the economic answer to the first riddle that Snelgrave encountered.

The pirates tortured people with cruel torture for another purpose: to bring the abusive captains to justice. Snelgrave said, "The subterfuge they find for these evils is to bring justice to the sailors." There are more personal factors here, and some pirates have been unfairly treated by the captain because of the pirates ' livelihood.

The structure of the merchant ship is different from that of the pirate vessel, the rank is stern, the top is the captain, and under him is the other chieftain. The hierarchy gives the captain the power to administer the crew in a dictatorial system. The captain's power extends to all aspects of life on board, including assignment, food rationing, remuneration and disciplinary enforcement. It can be said that the captain has great opportunities to exploit the crew.

After seizing a ship, pirates, according to the tradition of pirates, interrogate the crew and find out how their captain is doing to them. If the crew told the pirate that the captain had behaved poorly, the pirate would punish him.

On the contrary, the pirates will not punish the captain, and sometimes even reward his good deeds, if the crew members of the Pirates hold a nice word for their captain. In the late Snelgrave, because he gave the pirates a good impression, they simply gave him a ship filled with valuable cargo.

By punishing the abusive merchant captains, the Pirates could also establish a positive reputation among merchant sailors, which would make the merchant sailors more willing to surrender and even tell the pirates where the valuables were hidden.

In the case of this obligation to uphold justice, it seems that the pirates do not always think of the proceeds, it does not mean that the Pirates punish the captain is entirely altruistic, to the hateful merchant captain Torture really for other people living at sea to bring public benefits.

In general, the piracy of prisoners is a rational choice and a means to develop a reputation for terror.