mercantilismist

Mercantilismist refers to an adherent or proponent of mercantilism, an economic theory prevalent in Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Mercantilists believed that a nation's wealth and power were best served by increasing exports and collecting precious metals like gold and silver. They advocated for policies that would promote a favorable balance of trade, meaning a country should export more goods than it imports. This accumulation of specie was seen as the primary indicator of a nation's economic strength and its ability to finance military ventures and maintain its global standing.

Key tenets of mercantilismist thought included the idea that the world's wealth was finite, leading to a zero-sum game where one nation's gain was another's loss. Consequently, mercantilismist policies often involved government intervention in the economy. This included imposing tariffs on imported goods to discourage consumption of foreign products, offering subsidies to domestic industries to boost production, and establishing colonies to serve as sources of raw materials and captive markets for manufactured goods. Mercantilismists generally viewed colonies as existing for the benefit of the mother country.