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The core secret of mercantilism: How to enhance national power through trade?
Mercantilism, as a nationalist economic policy, aims to maximize a country's exports, minimize imports, and promote the accumulation of domestic resources. This policy not only shaped early economic thought, but also revealed the actual operation of international trade, profoundly affecting relations between countries and military conflicts. The fundamental idea of mercantilism is to accumulate wealth for a country through the control of trade and thereby enhance national power. How is this achieved?
The core of mercantilism lies in the close relationship between national power and trade surplus, which has been shown many times in history.
Historical background
The rise of mercantilism can be traced back to the Renaissance period from the 15th to the 18th century. Economic thinking at that time began to focus on the quantification of trade, especially in places such as Venice, Genoa and Pisa in Italy. The commercial prosperity in these areas marked the formation of mercantilism. European economic literature before 1750 mainly focused on discussions on how to improve national finances through trade, and formulated corresponding policies in the process.
Mercantilism emphasizes government management of the economy, with the aim of improving a country's trade advantage and weakening the competitiveness of rival countries.
In Britain, the first large-scale practice of mercantilism appeared during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Her government actively promoted a series of trade and maritime bills to promote British commercial development. . An early discussion of the national trade balance was recorded in the 1549 Treatise on the Common Wealth of England.
The theory of mercantilism
Most European economists who wrote between 1500 and 1750 are today known as mercantilists. The literature on mercantilism has continued to advance a number of key concepts, particularly considerations of how to promote trade through domestic policy. Scholars such as Thomas Moon viewed trade as a zero-sum game, highlighting the nature of competition among countries in trade.
Mercantilists generally believe that the gain of any party must be accompanied by the loss of the other party, and the essence of trade is mutual competition.
Mercantilist economic policies are often unbalanced. Many countries use high trade barriers to disrupt external markets in an attempt to protect domestic industries and resources. High tariffs, trade quotas and government subsidies are all common tools, and these policies eventually form a complete system to consolidate the country's economic position.
The policy practice of mercantilism
Mercantilist policies were widely implemented throughout Europe, especially in Britain and France. The French political economist Ernest Colbert was a well-known representative of mercantilism. He emphasized that the state should play a leading role in the economic field and promote domestic industries through a series of protective measures.
"The state should assume a dominant role in the economy as it does in the diplomatic field."
In addition, British mercantilism also emphasized its relationship with the colonies. The cooperation between the government and merchants promoted the expansion of trade and the plunder of external resources. This resulted in fierce competition with other European powers.
War and imperialism
Mercantilism not only shaped economic policy but also directly drove war and the desire to expand empires. For example, both the Anglo-Dutch War and the Franco-Dutch War can be seen as the extension and practice of mercantilist ideas. Economic competition between countries for trade advantages often turned into military conflicts.
“Mercantilism is a form of war that uses economic means to achieve conflict between countries.”
People believe that imperialism developed in this context is actually an inevitable choice made to control resources, monopolize markets and expand influence. Major powers set up specialized trading companies to acquire and exploit colonial resources, aiming to use international trade to promote their own economic growth.
The legacy of mercantilism still affects the global economic system today, and many emerging countries are still trying to learn from those ancient experiences. When facing the challenges of globalization, how should countries formulate economic policies that are more suitable for today's world?
