In truth, mercantilism has never been as dead as economists thought, nor is it necessarily as misguided as they insist. Thanks to Smith’s followers, laissez-faire and free trade often did find ...

Mercantilism drove certain brutal activities, including slavery and an imbalanced system of trade. Colonies faced periods of inflation and excessive taxation, which caused great distress.

Regarding Hernando de Soto’s “The Real Enemy for Trump Is Mercantilism, Not Globalism”: The problem isn’t mercantilism, it’s bad government.

Mercantilism didn’t work, trade did, and in the year of our political revolution, 1776, Adam Smith wrote in “The Wealth of Nations” about comparative advantage, creating an economic revolution.

Mercantilism made Europe’s colonial powers poorer. Trump is trying a modern version anyway. May 6, 2025. 5 min (Washington Post illustration; iStock) 5 min. By Kate Andrews.

Italy’s Meloni defends Vance’s Munich speech chastising Europe. The Italian prime minister said that Europe has been “sacrificed on the altar of wokeness, bureaucracy and mercantilism.” ...

Mercantilism 2.0, the economic manifestation of multipolarity, is streaking across the geostrategic firmament. The sun has set on globalization, the economic manifestation of a unipolar world ...

Mercantilism is often associated with Donald Trump's economic policies. Can reaching back into the past truly make America great again? That is up for debate. For those few of us familiar with the ...

Economic and political factors have had a profound influence on Pakistan's foreign policy. On the international scene, mercantilism has always been a decisive and major part of development and trade.