Page "Mercantilism" Paragraph 65

The importance placed on bullion was also a central target, even if many mercantilists had themselves begun to de-emphasize the importance of gold and silver.

Adam Smith noted at the core of the mercantile system was the " popular folly of confusing wealth with money ," bullion was just the same as any other commodity, and there was no reason to give it special treatment.

More recently, scholars have discounted the accuracy of this critique.

They believe Mun and Misselden were not making this mistake in the 1620s, and point to their followers Josiah Child and Charles Davenant, who, in 1699, wrote: " Gold and Silver are indeed the Measure of Trade, but that the Spring and Original of it, in all nations is the Natural or Artificial Product of the Country ; that is to say, what this Land or what this Labour and Industry Produces.

" The critique that mercantilism was a form of rent-seeking has also seen criticism, as scholars such Jacob Viner in the 1930s point out that merchant mercantilists such as Mun understood that they would not gain by higher prices for English wares abroad.