Definition Of Mercantilism Us History

The noun mercantilism came from the latin mercāns or buyer.

Definition of mercantilism us history. Mercantilism an economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought effects on economy. An economic theory developed in the 16th to 18th centuries that says that a government should. Expanding exports and limiting imports. The exportation of finished goods was favored over extractive industries like farming.

The way that they kept their economy healthy was through a system called mercantilism. In general mercantilism is the belief in the idea that a nation s wealth can be increased by the control of trade. Mercantilism is a policy that encourages state intervention in the market to ensure that maximum wealth in the form of bullion precious metals like gold and silver is accumulated in the country. It promotes imperialism tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal.

It is often considered an outdated system. In this system the british colonies were moneymakers for the mother country. Mercantilism economic theory and practice common in europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation s economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. Mercantilism was a popular economic philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Mercantilism also called commercialism is a system in which a country attempts to amass wealth through trade with other countries exporting more than it imports and increasing stores of gold and precious metals. It advocated that a nation should export more than it imported and accumulate bullion especially gold to make up the difference. It was the economic counterpart of political absolutism. Mercantilism was the theory of trade espoused by the major european powers from roughly 1500 to 1800.