Social Sciences and History / Unit 15 SSH 1436 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Mercantilism and Its Critics
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The idea
Mercantilism held that the world's wealth was finite, measured in precious metals, so a nation gained only what another lost and should export more than it imported behind tariffs and colonies. Hume and Smith answered that it hurt consumers and that wealth could grow.
In practice
Units 06 and 09 carry the same argument.
Where people slip
Taught first so Smith has an antagonist.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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