A brief summary of economic thoughts .

1. 1
History of economic thoughts

2. 2
 Steuart was one of the last representatives of
the mercantilist school of economic thought.
 Mercantilism was the school of thought that held
that a positive balance of trade was of primary
importance for any nation and required a ban on
the export of gold and silver.
 This theory led to high protective tariffs to
maximize the use of domestic resources,
colonial expansion and exclusivity of trade with
those colonies.
 British attempts to follow the mercantilist ideas
led to the four Anglo-Dutch navigation wars and
the American colonial’s wars of 1776-
1781 and 1812.

3. 3
 Britain adopted the high tariff, called the Corn
Laws on all imported wheat at the suggestion of
mercantilist advisors.
 Debate over the Corn Laws would be harsh and
would dominate the political discussion and
occupy all British governments until the Corn
Laws were repealed in 1846.
 At the level of any individual sales transaction,
mercantilism held that profit was developed at
the point of the sale.
 Steuart held that profit was a mere "surcharge"
upon alienation (sale) of the commodity

4. 4
Thomas Mun:
 Thomas Mun was English writer
on economics who gave the first clear and
vigorous statement of the theory of the balance
of trade.
 Mun came into public prominence in England
during the economic depression of 1620.
 Many people had blamed the East India
Company for the economic downturn because
the company financed its trade by exporting
£30,000

5. 5
 Mun was elected as the director of the company
and set out to ensure that it was operating at full
capacity.
 In 1620, during the onset of the depression,
Mun's role within the economy was greatly
enhanced
 He was forced to not only defend the East India
Company and its practices, but also aid the
government in correcting the economy.

6. 6
 The trade crisis that eventually led to the
depression stemmed from two separate events.
 First, through the East India Company, England
was importing from India at a much higher rate
than it was exporting
 Second, to pay for all of their imports, England
sent precious metals to India.
 Mun was thus put forward as a representative of
the enterprise
 He conveyed his views through his first
published book, A Discourse of Trade from
England Unto the East Indies.

7. 7
School Of Thought:
Mun was one of the first mercantilists.
 In other words, he believed that a nation’s
holdings of gold are the main measure of
its wealth and those governments should
regulate trade to produce an excess of
exports over imports in order to gain more
gold for the country.

8. 8
Economic Polices:
 Imported goods that can be produced
domestically should be banned.
 Reduce luxurious imported goods by making
Englishmen have a taste for English goods.
 Reduce export duties on goods produced
domestically from foreign markets.
 If no alternatives are available to its neighbors,
England should charge more money for its
exports.
 Cultivate wasteland for higher production and to
reduce the amount of imports needed from
abroad.

9. 9
Publications
A Discourse of Trade from England Unto
the East Indies (1621)
England's Treasure by Forraign
Trade (1628)