Mercantilism

Successful? Why?

As the classical economists were later to point out, however, even a successful mercantilist policy was not likely to be beneficial because it produced an oversupply of money and, with it, serious inflation. Mercantilist ideas did not decline until the coming of the Industrial Revolution and of laissez-faire.

In Europe?

In England mercantilist policies were effective in creating a skilled industrial population and a large shipping industry. Through a series of Navigation Acts England finally destroyed the commerce of Holland, its chief rival.

Mercantilism

It was an economic system that was practiced in the 16th to 18th centuries. It is an economic concept, which believes that the wealth of a nation could only be achieved through government controls and regulation of trade, commerce and economic activities. The underlying principle of mercantilism was to achieve a positive balance of trade by encouraging exports of homemade products and markedly restricting importation through the use of tariffs and regulation.

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The belief that a country's wealth could best be judged by the amount of precious metals or bullion it possessed.

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The belief that the amount of wealth in the world was relatively static.

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The belief that the crown or state should exercise a dominant role in assisting and directing the national and international economies to these ends.

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The need to encourage exports over imports as a means for obtaining a favorable balance of foreign trade that would yield such metals.

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The value of a large population as a key to self-sufficiency and state power.