Introduction: Thomas Mun (1571-1641) was a renowned English writer on economics. He was a director of the East India Company and standing commission on trade. His education qualification is still unknown but readers often assume that there were close links between the Indian and the Mediterranean trades and he served his apprenticeship in the latter. He was also a prominent and rich member of the East India Company and his economic thought was greatly influenced by his role as a businessman and merchant. His pamphlet, England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade, “has been almost universally accepted among economists as the embodiment of seventeenth-century mercantile doctrine.” (Muchmore, 1970) Mercantilism as a self interest driving economic thought: …show more content…
It was expressed perhaps more methodically by Mun than by any other contemporary economist. While Malynes placed great emphasis on the particular trade balances of one country with each other country, taken singly, Mun showed that what really mattered was the overall balance of trade. The inflow and outflow of gold depends on the general balance of trade, and the State should pay direct attention to this. Therefore, it was permitted to maintain a commercial deficit with some countries, such as those from which raw materials were imported, if this was favourable to the increase of the national production of industrial goods. Most of these goods could be sold abroad at high prices, because of the monopolistic advantages associated with the superior technology required to produce …show more content…
This criticism is directly linked to the opening chapter of England's Treasure , listing twelve qualities needed in a good merchant. An export surplus will make a country rich, an import surplus render it poor. Gross imports can be large if a substantial portion of them is re-exported, as the East India Company is wont to do. What is needed is restraint in consumption of imports so as to enable them to be resold abroad for treasure. The country will grow rich if Englishmen increase productivity in the production of the "natural Commodities of the Realme," do not neglect fishing (this is a reference to the strength of the Dutch in the herring fisheries) and avoid excesses of consumption of food and
Therefore, people, companies, and nations would take advantage of them and pay their workers with the cheaper currency, which would result in lower wages and rebellion (Nasaw 345). Furthermore, the “protection of the gold standard” (Nasaw 345) was more important to him than was the protective tariff. This argument comes to show us how much he felt for his workers and wanted to pay them fairly. He agrees that there is an unequal distribution of
This chapter deals with the condition of Britain’s import of naval stores in the 1710s and William Wood’s mercantile view. In particular, this chapter illustrates that the development of the naval stores policy had a crucial influence on mercantilist’s view about the naval stores policy and the Northern Colonies by analysing the increase in the amount of imported American naval stores. After the War of the Spanish Succession, the amount of Britain’s import of American tar increased sharply from 333 lasts in 1711 to 2,097 lasts in 1715 and 3,773 lasts in 1716. There were some reasons for this rapid increase.
Socially and economically, the global silver trade from the mid-16th century to the 18th century had a negative effect on the rest of the world. The trade’s earlier benefits did not last long, as it eventually weakened the Spanish kingdoms and Ming dynasty. The dependence on trade and the uneven disbursement of the product lead to the fragility of the economics of those governments that depended on silver. The economic effects can be seen in document 2, 3, 4, and the social effects of the silver trade can be seen in documents 5, 6, 7, and 8. According to the documents, the middle man profited the most from the dependence on silver, while the countries importing and exporting silver suffered massive damages.
The problem that arose, was when these ships, stocked for London, departed from their foreign ports. According to the text, an “Act of Parliament passed in the seventeenth year of the reign of King George” is what stirred the commotion on the high seas. It was while sailing that trades and smuggling would occur with ships from within the East India Company, in order to transport the illegal contraband to other bidders. Similar to the Acts passed by Parliament on wool running, the East India company also sought
Chapter 2 Research Questions Directions: Use pages 30-62 to answer the following. All answers should be typed. Plagiarism of any kind will result in a zero on this assignment. Process the information from your textbook and the internet.
Nevertheless England wanted implemented economic policy known as mercantilism, which focuses on profit of trade.7 England began to pass legislation to ensure that it reaped more trade benefits from its colonial possessions.7 England passed acts that would benefit from the products being created in the new world. One significant act was the Stamp Act 1765, which imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. This stamp act created animosity between the colonies and England because the colonies believed this was just another way to get money out of the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures.8 The colonies soon wanted to be free from the reign of the British rule
Like other imperial countries, he wanted to encourage mercantilism, which would strengthen England. Limitations such as Navigation Act of 1660 meant only certain products could be sold and shipped to England and other colonies; The Staple Act stated that all foreign goods had to be loaded and reloaded at English ports with English ships; and Revenues Act of 1663 required that ship captains transporting certain colonial goods pay a "plantation duty" on any items not delivered to England” (Jelatis). This only allowed for England to make a profit off of trade, which in the long run negatively affected the colonists. This occurred because King Charles II believed that it was the duty of the colonies to create money for England, but it began to impede on the colonists’ ability to establish commerce in the late 18th
However, an imbalance of trade occurred between Asia and Europe by Asia receiving luxury goods while Europe received regular goods. It was believed that Asia had the upper-hand during the trade, due to the fact that they were receiving the gold and silver. In reality, Asia wasn’t sure on how to benefit from the luxury, and in result proved that the ones who had the upper-hand didn’t always have to be responsible of trading luxury (Doc. 8).
It was obvious that the government’s policies were favoring that of British mercantilism, jumpstarting the trade monopoly and making
Using specific examples from the primary source, address the following questions. 1. What was Jules Ferry’s economic argument for imperial expansion? Why had colonies recently gained greater economic value?
With regards to the revolution, this can be translated into the colonies’ aggressive retaliation or response in the form of the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress on September 5, 1774. (1764 and 1765). Similarly, the Progressive school of thought supports the notion that the American Revolution was incited by the economic motivations of the British and the merchants of the colonies to each maintain or enhance their highly profitable status. With such debate as a motivating factor of the investigation, I will investigate if the Boston Tea Party can be considered the primary cause in the American Revolution. At the same time, I shall attempt to delve in to the backgrounds of the socio-economic factors that have also played a role such as the Stamp Act and political factors such as the passage of intolerable acts.
Mercantilism was the operating economy system of the time. British main focus was to make sure their colonies exported more than they were required hearsay to import. Colonies provided raw materials for their mother country and existed merely to enrich the mother country. Throughout the 17th and 18th century the British government was starting to become weary with the fact of their North American colonies becoming more superior to the mother country. Since, that cannot be the British government had to impose regulations on colonial trade.
In the 1500’s England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and formed its own church called the Church of England. However, the Pilgrims didn’t want to follow the new church. As a result, they were persecuted and harassed by followers of the new Church of England. For this reason, the Pilgrims and Puritans came specifically to America to practice their religious beliefs and to spread the gospel. The Pilgrims were a group of Puritans (English Protestants) who wanted to escape religious persecution in England.
Although gold was not the English source of economic growth, the English used the same tactics as the Spanish colonies to achieve economic success. For instance, trading fish was the main genesis for the English settlers wealth. Trading fish formed a display of physical and economic independence amongst the colonists. This comparison shows how each colonization formed their economic wealth and which strategies helped them be successful as a country.
Smith’s paragraph made sense only in the Ricardian market and therefore explained in terms of supply and demand. But according to the portmanteau definition the paragraph was nonsense, as it says that people would purchase commodities if they had no desire for