The document discusses the history of global trade networks dating back to the 7th century. It describes how: 1) An Asian-centered world economy developed since the rise of Islam, with Europeans shipping goods from India through the Red Sea and Mediterranean. 2) In the 16th-17th centuries, goods like coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco and sugar originated from specific regions and were central to the emerging global economy. 3) Aztec traders in Tenochtitlan controlled long-distance commerce networks in Mesoamerica, trading goods with a market twice the size of Salamanca.