customs and trade

The purpose of the mercantilists were not the same as those of modern economists. Mercantilists were concerned with increasing the power of their own respective nations relative to that of other nations. Their goal was not the allocation of scarce resources in a way that would maximize the standard of living of the people at large. (p. 599)

A mercantilist believes that there are winners and losers in the market, rather than a mutual benefit through trade. A government that has instituted mercantilism, will try to suppress imports and encourage exports, so that their country is the “winner”. Internal markets are either subsidized or repressed through fines by the government, because they believe that people can’t be left to produce and buy whatever they want in a free market.

This government policy was composed of extensive government regulation of international trade to ensure that these gains accrued to one’s own country, a pursuit that even carried European states into military conflict with one another. The emerging trade between Europe and other regions of the world during the mercantilist period was undertaken chiefly by state-chartered monopoly trading companies and was therefore conducted under conditions of imperfect competition. Therefore, one could spot a rise in monopoly profits due to the imperfect competition. By contrast, Intra-European trade was less hindered by government monopoly policies and was actually fairly well established and competitive in the seventeenth century (Braudel, 1983). Selective monopolies were protected by the state in order to sustain certain industries. It became apparent that virtually all trade activities were embedded with state regulations. This enabled monarchs, merchants, government officials and their companies to benefit most out of the mercantilist activities while the working class was subjected to the lowest wage possible. There were many protectionist measures taken by the government, such as guild rules, taxes, tariffs, quotas, and prohibition of imports to big state-run

Mercantilism is a key economic principle in which nations attempt to create a favorable balance of trade that is more advantageous to them than to other nations. This concept is elucidated (on a number of occasions) in William Bernstein's non-fictional accounting of the history of global economics entitled A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World. Furthermore, mercantilism was one of the leading economic strategies employed by many of the nations in the western hemisphere. In fact, this economic tenet largely fueled (and in turn was supported by) the imperialist appetites of countries such as Holland, England, and France. Mercantilist practices ultimately strove to provide these nations, and others, with a means of self-sufficiency that, in an ideal state, could not be challenged by another country throughout the world.

In this I am going to assess the methods to increase trade between countries and the methods to restrict trade between countries. When asses the methods of encouraging and restricting trade I will talk about the purpose for the methods of promoting and restricting international trade, identify how and why they might be used and I will decide how useful each method is giving appropriate reasons for it. International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries.

Banking was over run by the Germans. Trade in the East came to an end with the fall of Constantinople. By the end of the 16th century, economics had shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic with the Spanish discovery of the New World. With this trade shift the worldwide economy was in the makings. In the 17th century mercantilism is very prominent. Things such as state-granted monopolies, regulated exports and imports, tariffs, custom duties, quotas, slavery, colonial taxes, and plantation system were in full effect. By the 18th century, a supply and demand economy had produced. Through mercantilism, state regulations lowered the living standards of workers.

The second key assumption of liberalism on which peace and security can be achieved is the practice of free trade among nations. The mercantilist period of history is linked to the rise of the modern nations in Europe. This period could be described as the time which nations were focused narrowly on gaining wealth and discouraging imports. The mercantilist policies included restrictions on import and development of colonial empires. Mercantilist view was that of the Louis XIV’s finance Minister, Jean Baptist Colbert who said “trade is a source of finance and finance is the vital nerve of war” According Carr “the aim of mercantilism was not to promote the welfare of the community and its members but to augment the power of

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, known as OECD, is an international economic organization participated by 34 countries, targeting to stimulate world trade and international economic progress. According to its mission statement, OECD is a combination of nations classifying themselves

Mercantilism (revolving around trade) is based upon the colonies enriching their “mother country,” as the colonies can only work through the countries to receive the materials that they need. If the countries decide not to improve their colonies’ needs, then the colonies cannot survive or will have to find a way to extend their sources or materials. In other words, “the mercantile system is developed to benefit from profitable trading,” there must be a reason to trade. (Mercantilism) To better understand the concepts of mercantilism you must know the terms associated with the process. Exports are goods sent outside a colony or country,

The OECD’s database of statistical and economic data assists countries in analysing and monitoring their economic, social and environmental policies. Member countries have access to the expertise, peer review, research and analysis carried out by the organisation. This work could not be carried out by one country alone. Countries can discuss and identify globally acceptable standards and solutions to common problems. The OECD has a working relationship with non-member countries and member states benefit from dialog with all countries of the world. Interdependence demands that all countries of the world play by the rules of the

First of all, as a proponent of free domestic trade, Adam Smith has opposed the Mercantilist view that domestic trade simply re-distributes wealth. Smith also illustrates that trade is mutually beneficial between sellers and buyers. From the perspective of mercantilism, "Domestic trade, which circulated money and commodities within a nation, was regarded as advantageous to private interests, but not to the nation as a whole, because it did nothing to augment the total amount of wealth” (Hamowy, 2008, p.327). On the contrary, Smith asserts that free (domestic) trade is beneficial for both

Mercantilism has been nicknamed the economics of absolution. Mercantilism is the theory that a countries power depends mainly on its wealth, the power to build large and formidable navies and lastly the control and purchase of vital trade goods and routes. The two main ways to increase a countries wealth is to obtain as much gold and silver as possible and to establish a favorable balance of trade that sells more goods than it has to buy. In Mercantilism buying more than you are selling will lead to an unfavorable balance which will lead to a national dept. Europe in early history utilized mercantilism which lead to the creation of colonies. The soul purpose of a colony is to support and benefit the mother country. A good example of this is North America, North America had untapped raw resources such as minerals, metals and trees; it is worth noting

A GCE Analysis for Free Trade in the D8” written by Mustafa Acar agues about free trade between the OIC countries. OIC is the second inter-governmental organization in the world after the United Nations. Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) includes 22.5 percent of world population, 6.6 percent of world GDP, and 9.1 percent of world trade, more than 70 percent of oil and nearly 50 percent of natural gas reserves of the world. Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are the members of D8 (Developing 8) countries. Free trade between these countries will be beneficial and it will increase the trade volume and will bring welfare gains to each

Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen: As-salamu alaykum. It is an honor and a privilege to join you at this meeting, and to reflect with you on trade opportunities between our two companies. With trade flows between our countries growing at an unprecedented rate, the timing of your visit could not be better. Indeed, for many years, people have been buying and selling to one another from all corners of the world. It is impossible for any country - rich or poor – as its economy grows, to stay away from a global market where free trade and free movement of capital are pivotal to a strong economy. As a matter of fact, trade and investment increase job opportunities all around the world, and foreign money that comes into our companies may result in access to wider markets. From trade opportunities to investment, the world has become closer, and tied in client supply and demand structures. Therefore, it’s important to acknowledge how important this meeting is for our two companies. Today, I will address the three main arguments for trade opportunities, client supply and demand structures in this globalization era, and how instrumental they are in a company’s growth.

“the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism”. (Vocabulary.com, 2016) Today it has been suggested that mercantilism is the belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism, and that it is the basis upon which all future strategic operations made money for countries in the Asia Pacific.