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The article discusses the establishment of the organization the International Economic History Association (IEHA) and its significance to dialogue among economic historians during the Cold War and détente. It examines the significance of the IEHA to academic international diplomacy, the motivation of the organizers of the IEHA to keep the group together through Cold War crises, and the role of the field of economic history in international collaborations during the Cold War. It also discusses the roles of scholars Michael M. Postan, Fernand Braudel, and Ernst Söderlund in organizing the IEHA.

Argues that imports of goods from the East made a difference to the subsequent development of European, but especially British, consumer markets and production technologies in the 18th century. Europeans' response to Asian luxuries by learning from their imports, developing knowledge of markets and adapting processes; Connection between global luxury, European consumerism and industrialization in the 18th century.

The article looks at botanist and surgeon James Anderson's silk projects along India's Coromandel coast. Anderson set up an extensive network of correspondents, learning which species of silkworm and mulberry tree were the best options for plantations in Southern India. Ultimately the venture failed, but according to the author it shows how many of English trading company, the East India Company's ventures in India were economically inviable.