Mercantilism is a nationalist form of early capitalism that came into existence approximately in the late 16th century.

Mercantilism holds that the wealth of a nation is increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations, and corresponds to the phase of capitalist development called the Primitive accumulation of capital.

Mercantilism is the economic doctrine that government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and military security of the state.

Underconsumption theory dates to the earlier economic theory of mercantilism, and an early history of underconsumptionism is given in Mercantilism, by Eli Heckscher, vol.

The introduction of the capitalist mode of production spans the period from Mercantilism to Imperialism and is usually associated with the emergence of modern industrial society.

Mercantilism, according to Foucault, was the first rationalization of the exercise of power as a practice of government ; it is the first time that a knowledge of the state can be employed as tactics for the state, namely statistics.

Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from the 16th to late-18th centuries.

Mercantilism was economic warfare and was well suited to an era of military warfare.

It criticised Mercantilism, and argued that economic specialisation could benefit nations just as much as firms.

It also came down on the side of Economic liberalism ( as opposed to Mercantilism ) in the economic debate then raging in republican circles ( and therefore promised to do away with guilds and internal impediments to trade ).

As Mercantilism became the dominant economic theory of the Renaissance, merchants tended to conduct their business in the same buildings, which might include retail sales, warehousing and clerical work.

Mercantilism can be seen as the economic justification of the aggressive pursuit of the national interest.

Foucault begins to trace through this development through the political model of reform and one crucial development was the economy, a politics of economic calculation with Mercantilism and for Foucault this was not just a theory but was above all else a political practice.

Foucault takes a look at these general practices through looking at the economic practices involved from the 18th century ( where Mercantilism was at its peak ) where a coherence strategy established an intelligible mechanism which provided a coherent link, together these different practices and their effects, and consequently allows one to judge all these practices as good or bad, not in terms of a law or moral principle, but in terms of propositions subject to the false dichotomy between true and false.

Mercantilism declined in Great Britain in the mid-18th century, when a new group of economic theorists, led by Adam Smith, challenged fundamental mercantilist doctrines as the belief that the amount of the world's wealth remained constant and that a state could only increase its wealth at the expense of another state.

Mercantilism was a policy followed by empires, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, forbidding or limiting trade outside the empire.

Mercantilism was the basic policy imposed by Britain on its colonies from the 1660s.

Mercantilism was the basic policy imposed by Britain on its colonies.

Mercantilism meant that the government and merchants based in England became partners with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires and even merchants based in its own colonies.

Mercantilism meant that the government and the merchants became partners with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires.

Mercantilism inflamed the growing hostilities between the increasingly centralized European powers as the accumulation of precious metals by governments was seen as important to the prestige and power of a modern nation.

Mercantilism was the school of thought that held that a positive balance of trade was of primary importance for any nation and required a ban on the export of gold and silver.

Mercantilism was a cause of frequent European wars in that time and motivated colonial expansion.

Mercantilism was rejected by Britain and France by the mid-19th century.

Mercantilism in its simplest form was naive bullionism, but mercantilist writers emphasized the circulation of money and rejected hoarding.

Mercantilism was the dominant school of thought in Europe throughout the late Renaissance and early modern period ( from the 15th to the 18th century ).

Mercantilism developed at a time when the European economy was in transition.

Mercantilism was closely aligned with the other theories and ideas that were replacing the medieval worldview.

Mercantilism was centered in England and France, and it was in these states that mercantilist polices were most often enacted.

Mercantilism was a significant driver of Colonialism, as, according to the theory, the colony existed for the benefit of the mother country.

Notes on Mercantilism, The Usury Laws, Stamped Money and Theories of Under-Consumption, section VII Underconsumption was a small part of mercantilist theory, in Heckscher's view, but was discussed by a number of authors.

Mercantilism played a crucial role in facilitating their upward mobility but religion was also perceived as a vehicle.

Foucault then considers how Mercantilism played a big role in this new context of European balance of power ; these are the mercantilist requirements: every country should try to have the largest possible population, second ; the entire population be endgible and be put to work, third ; wages given to the population be as low as possible, fourth ; the cost price of goods at the lowest price as possible.

Mercantilism held that a nation's prosperity depended on its supply of capital, represented by bullion ( gold, silver, and trade value ) held by the state.

Mercantilism was a system of trade for profit, although commodities were still largely produced by non-capitalist production methods.

Mercantilism encouraged the many intra-European wars of the period and arguably fueled European expansion and imperialism — both in Europe and throughout the rest of the world — until the 19th century or early 20th century.

Mercantilism focused on how this trade could best aid the states.

Mercantilism arose in France in the early 16th century, soon after the monarchy had become the dominant force in French politics.

Mercantilism helped create trade patterns such as the triangular trade in the North Atlantic, in which raw materials were imported to the metropolis and then processed and redistributed to other colonies.

Mercantilism became prominent in Central Europe and Scandinavia after the Thirty Years ' War ( 1618 – 1648 ), with Christina of Sweden, Jacob Kettler of Courland, Christian IV of Denmark being notable proponents.

Some constituent states of the empire did embrace Mercantilism, most notably Prussia, which under Frederick the Great had perhaps the most rigidly controlled economy in Europe.

Mercantilism fueled the imperialism of this era, as many nations expended significant effort to build new colonies that would be sources of gold ( as in Mexico ) or sugar ( as in the West Indies ), as well as becoming exclusive markets.

* Ames, Glenn J. Colbert, Mercantilism, and the French Quest for Asian Trade ( 1996 )

The Modern World-System II: Mercantilism and the Consolidation of the European World-Economy, 1600-1750.