ABSTRACT
Mercantilism was the first ‘theory’ of the new capitalist economy, i.e. of the economy based on trade and profit. It in fact expressed for the first time a genuine ‘hunger for goods’, albeit limited. In actual fact mercantilism was not a fully fledged theory; rather, it was a coherent set of ideas of political economy, whose aim was to develop the economy of one’s country. This line of thinking emerged in opposition to bullionism, when it was realized that wealth can be preserved, and above all increased, not by locking it in a safe, but by using it in a productive way, that is, to create new wealth (see pages 112-14). This must come about in two ways: by investing the money at home to increase production; and by using it in foreign trade.
