1.5 — Mercantilism — Readings
Monday, August 31, 2020
Required Readings:
- Thomas Mun, William Petty, Bernard de MandevilleYes, this is a little out of order
& skim each’s writings in Reader - Ch.3 Early Preclassical Economic Thought up through Physiocracy (p.56) in Landreth & Colander
- Ch.1 Pre-Adamite Economics up through Physiocracy (p.24) in Blaug
We are entering the era of mercantilism, and will spend at least a week in this era before we get to the Classical economists. There are a lot of well-develoepd writings from a lot of well-known thinkers of this era. Since we will not be lingering long, there is a lot of reading in a short amount of time. Thus, it’s most important that you read the secondary textbook, and in the Reader, read the biographies of Mun, Petty, and Mandeville, and then skim each of their writings to get a feel for what they are interested in and how they discuss it.
Recommended Readings:
The following Wikipedia entries can also provide more background on these writers and their famous works:
Questions to Help Your Reading
- Who are the mercantlists, and why are they writing?
- What are the mercantilists interested in?
- What are the policy prescriptions of the mercantilists?
- How do the mercantlists view human nature?
- What is the role of government according to the mercantilists?
- What aspects of mercantilism are still present today?
- What does modern economics think of mercantilist ideas?