- Mercantilism is an economic practice by which governments used their economies to augment state power at the expense of other countries.
- Governments sought to ensure that exports exceeded imports and to accumulate wealth in the form of bullion (mostly gold and silver).
- In mercantilism, wealth is viewed as finite and trade as a zero-sum game.
- Mercantilism was the prevalent economic system in the Western world from the 16th to the 18th century.
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