mercantile system

noun

an economic system (Europe in 18th century) to increase a nation's wealth by government regulation of all of the nation's commercial interests

• Syn: ↑mercantilism

• Regions: ↑Europe

• Hypernyms: ↑managed economy

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Econ.

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.

[1770-80]

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mercantile system noun

An old economic strategy based on the theory that a nation's interests are best served by accumulating reserves of bullion, etc through the development of overseas trade and the restricting of imports, the impetus of much 17c and 18c colonization by European powers

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Main Entry: ↑mercantile

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mercantile system,

= mercantilism (def. 1). (Cf. ↑mercantilism)