"mercantilism"

[Chris Burford <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 2003-07-15 21:04 -0700, Ian wrote:
> Right but the dictionary entry is saying 1873. I'm reading a review of
> Heckscher's book [it's Tuesday and I don't have a tv :-)] and I'm asking
> in an historiographical and nominalist sense.......


The complete Oxford English Dictionary which I have on disc, gives as its
earliest citation

1873 P Fitzgerald,   Dumas "The picture of 'literary mercantilism',
described by this great writer [Balzac], shows that Dumas had only borrowed
his system from journalism and social life."

The other citations are from a little later.

My guess is that the term was loosely used in economic affairs in the
earlier part of the 19th century, and the citation above shows a
metaphorical borrowing into literaray criticism of a business term.

I guess towards the end of the 19th century mercantilism was being
formulated as a concept to be attacked by the advocates of free trade.

OED quotes the Contemporary Review in 1881 asking critically "Is it
possible that merchants, bankers, .... should all be led astray by the
sophism of 'mercantilism'?"

Hence getting into the 1885 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britanica, with
the more subtle historiographical comment, "It has been justly observed
that there are in him [Hume] several traces of a refined mercantilism."

So my expensive OED on disc cannot illuminate the earlier reference Carrol
found from OED online of 1838 but Google links "The New Moral World" to
Robert Owen, and records that Engels contributed several articles to it.
Microfilm editions of this are available at Sheffield University.

I suspect that the historiography would have to search for "mercantilisme"
in French sources.

My recollection is that the terms is used in connection with Colbert's
vigorous policies under Louis XIV for building a sort of state national
capitalism. Google searches for "mercantilism" and "Louis XIV" readily
produce standard student essays on this theme.

English sources would perhaps not wish to give much attention to the
economic policies that built France, but even if Colbert and his
contemporaries did not use the term "mercantilism" I think it looks
incontrovertible that he was following a definite policy, (which might
still have some interest today in resisting the self-reinforcing domination
of "free trade"). Someone would have to check French historiography.

Chris Burford
London