ABSTRACT
In view of the resemblance between Mercantilism and modern Imperialism, it is the more surprising those economists of our day should have had so little to say concerning the latter, and should even have treated it as a subject outside their scope. Modern Imperialism repeats the feature of exploitation through trade; and, while in the early stages of Imperialism this feature may have been much less marked than it was in the colonial system of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Stress is consequently laid on the industrializing effect of Imperialism in backward countries, by contrast with the restrictive effect which the Mercantile System exercised on the economic development of its colonies. Compared with the latter alternative the metropolitan proletariat may be said to benefit from Imperialism. That Imperialism will very soon bring monopoly- practices reminiscent of Mercantilism in its train is made probable by a special and distinctive feature of this system.
