What did mercantilists believe that a country had to do to become wealthy and powerful?

Answer 1

Mercantilism is the idea that there is only a limited amount of wealth in all the world. During the Age of Exploration (1492-1700), Europeans set out to conquer other places in the world so all that wealth will become theirs and they could rule as the most powerful.

Mercantilists believed that to become wealthy and powerful, a country had to export more than it imported. Brenda G.

During the age of Mercantilism even small countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal became world powers from the increase in trade, exploration and exploitation of Natural Resources. This wealth created by a positive balance of trade enabled these, and other countries to become military powers as well, relative to their landlocked neighbors and the undeveloped regions they exploited. The political economy was based upon the simple premise to "buy low and sell high", as resources like gold in the Americas or spices from the East were obtained cheaply and sold in Europe for a larger amount.

This practice was brought about by advances in marine technology and ship building in the 15th century. But as countries like Great Britain refined products like wool, cotton, wood, etc. via technological advances and financial innovations associated with Capitalism, those countries that relied on Mercantilism, that benefited the aristocracy in particular, nations like Spain and Portugal began to decline by the 18t century.