mercantilism
noun
mer·can·til·ism
ˈmər-kən-ˌtē-ˌli-zəm 
-ˌtī-,
-tə-
1
: the theory or practice of mercantile pursuits : commercialism
2
: an economic system developing during the decay of feudalism to unify and increase the power and especially the monetary wealth of a nation by a strict governmental regulation of the entire national economy usually through policies designed to secure an accumulation of bullion (see bullion sense 1), a favorable balance of trade, the development of agriculture and manufactures, and the establishment of foreign trading monopolies (see monopoly sense 1)
Examples of mercantilism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As the foreign policy expert Wess Mitchell has recently argued, the United States needs to create a unified front against Chinese mercantilism.
—
Nadia Schadlow, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2024
Through mercantilism and colonization, Europeans sought natural resources abroad in order to increase their power at home.
—Kathleen Duval, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2024
Purveyors of the myth that free trade is always good and more is always better are eager to dismiss the havoc wreaked by the introduction of China’s aggressive mercantilism into the global market as an outlier or the exception that proves the rule.
—Oren Cass, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2021
Smith’s book, published in 1776, meant to oppose a prevalent economic strategy in eighteenth-century Britain—the nationalist and protectionist system of mercantilism—by explaining how free trade and the division of labor create more national wealth.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
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Nadia Schadlow, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2024
Through mercantilism and colonization, Europeans sought natural resources abroad in order to increase their power at home.
—Kathleen Duval, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2024
Purveyors of the myth that free trade is always good and more is always better are eager to dismiss the havoc wreaked by the introduction of China’s aggressive mercantilism into the global market as an outlier or the exception that proves the rule.
—Oren Cass, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2021
Smith’s book, published in 1776, meant to oppose a prevalent economic strategy in eighteenth-century Britain—the nationalist and protectionist system of mercantilism—by explaining how free trade and the division of labor create more national wealth.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
See all Example Sentences for mercantilism
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“Mercantilism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercantilism. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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