This study of the interrelations of accounting and the State portrays accounting as a technology of government to effectively enact “practical action” (Snook, 2000: 186) at a distance in the Portuguese Empire. The study examines the development, application and enforcement of accounting...

Cartazes were an instrument of power the Portuguese used in the Indian Ocean during the age of the ultramarine explorations. In this short lecture note, after an initial review of the literature, I propose that the Portuguese Cartaz fits the definition of rent-seeking