Elena Scarfagna Rossi

Mercantilism in the Europe of the 1990s Elena Scarfagna Rossi

It is usual to describe the earliest stages of capitalism as mercantilism, the word denoting the central importance of the merchant overseas traders who rose to prominence in 17th and 18th century England, Germany, and the Low Countries. [...] Under capitalism two realms of authority existed where there had formerly been only one, a realm of political governance for such purposes as war or law and order and a realm of economic governance over the processes of production and distribution. The influence of mercantilist beliefs through to the last decades can still be found in Europe, especially explicated in the economic rivalry between the super-powers.