MERCANTILE SYSTEM Definition & Meaning

mercantile system

[ mur-kuhn-teel sis-tuhm, -tahyl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Economics.

a system of political and economic policy, evolving with the modern national state and seeking to secure a nation's political and economic supremacy in its rivalry with other states. According to this system, money was regarded as a store of wealth, and the goal of a state was the accumulation of precious metals, by exporting the largest possible quantity of its products and importing as little as possible, thus establishing a favorable balance of trade.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of mercantile system¹

First recorded in 1770–80

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He also thought that these free trade deals would essentially be corrupted by the people who make the deal, which he called the mercantile system.

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The store was on its feet within one year, expanding in two, opening branches in three, and its descendants, a great mercantile system, now dominate a large part of the area.

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Smith repeatedly stresses that while the mercantile system does not serve the public interest, it does benefit the "principal architects" of policy, which is no less true of today's hyper-financialised, neoliberal capitalism.

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Even the violent opponent of the mercantile system, Boisguillebert, could not entirely escape this view.

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Later it helped undo the mercantile system and colonialism.

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