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IPE of Mercantilism
IPE of Mercantilism
PSCI 3620
1. Introduction to Mercantilism
2. Historical Background of Mercantilism
3. Main Points of Mercantilism
4. Early Writers
5. Mercantilist Thinkers
6. Conclusion
What is Mercantilism?
Where?
Western Europe, particularly
England and France
2. Historical Background
of Mercantilism
Generally, Mercantilism is associated with the
rise of the “Nation state.”
Feudal institutions were weakened by the
increasing use of money and a greater reliance
on exchange within the economy.
The Protestant Reformation weakened the role
of the church and consequently the civil role of
the state was expanded
There was a rise of Humanism (the concern for
well-being of humans in the short term).
rise of markets and fairs
gunpowder
improvements in navigation, shipping,
transport
moveable type, (standardization, mass
production and marketing of books in a
variety of languages)
mechanical clocks, mechanisms,
instruments, Increased skills of craftsmen
who made machines
Main Points of Mercantilism
Finance essential
Merchant activity
Wars
Josiah Child
Bernard Mandeville
David Hume
Von Hornick
Thomas Mun
Josiah Child
Josiah Child was a seventeenth-century
mercantilist.
Essentially a defense contractor, Child
wrote Circumstance on the Discourse on
Trace, which he published anonymously.
His, while not iron-clad, suggested that
Britain should lower interest rates since
Holland had done so.
His self-interested recommendations did
not have much economic foundation.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was the French
minister of finance from 1661 until 1683.
Mercantilist considerations led Colbert to
advocate war as an instrument of economic
policy.
He regulated the minute details of industry.
He wanted to increase work, exports, and
child labor.
This extreme government control still lives in
France today.
Bernard Mandeville
Bernard Mandeville, a social satirist,
wrote the The Fable of the Bees.
This satire preached the themes of hard
work and the beneficial social
consequences of private self-interest
behaviour.
It linked avaricious behaviour to
increased trade.
David Hume
David Hume questioned
mercantilist assumptions
in his essays.
He denied that money and
gold were equivalent to
wealth. Instead, they had
merely instrumental value.
David Hume