785 B
785 B
Commercial System Enrichment Mechanism
Definition
The mercantilist theory that national wealth is increased through the accumulation of precious metals via trade surpluses, achieved through government intervention, tariffs, bounties, and monopolies that direct economic activity toward exporting more than importing.
Source Chapter
Book IV, Chapter 3
Context
Smith critiques this entire mechanism throughout the chapter, demonstrating how it leads to irrational policies that harm rather than benefit the nations that adopt them, while failing to achieve their stated objectives of national enrichment.
Economic Domain
General Theory