Mercantilism. Thomas Maine "Discourse on the Trade of England with the East Indies"

Biography

Paul Thomas Mann (German: Paul Thomas Mann, June 6, 1875, Lubeck - August 12, 1955, Zurich) - German writer, essayist, master of the epic novel, laureate Nobel Prize in literature (1929), brother of Heinrich Mann, father of Klaus Mann, Golo Mann and Erica Mann.

Thomas Mann is an outstanding German writer, author of epic works, Nobel Prize laureate in literature, the most eminent representative of the Mann family, rich in creative talents. Born June 6, 1875 in Lübeck. At the age of 16, Thomas finds himself in Munich: the family moves there after the death of his father, a merchant and city senator. He would live in this city until 1933.

After graduating from school, Thomas gets a job at insurance company and is engaged in journalism, intending to follow the example of his brother Heinrich, at that time an aspiring writer. During 1898-1899. T. Mann edits the satirical magazine Simplicissimus. The first publication dates back to this time - a collection of stories “Little Mister Friedemann”. The first novel, “Buddenbrooks,” which tells about the fate of a merchant dynasty and was autobiographical in nature, made Mann a famous writer.

In 1905, in Mann's personal life, something happened an important event- marriage to Katya Pringsheim, a noble Jewish woman, the daughter of a mathematics professor, who became the mother of his six children. Such a party allowed the writer to become included in the society of representatives of the big bourgeoisie, which contributed to the strengthening of the conservatism of his political views.

T. Mann supported the First world war, condemned social reforms and pacifism, experiencing serious spiritual crisis. A huge difference in beliefs caused a break with Henry, and only Thomas's transition to a democratic position made reconciliation possible. In 1924, the novel “The Magic Mountain” was published, which brought T. Mann world fame. In 1929, thanks to “Buddenbrooks,” he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The period following the award in the biography of Thomas Mann is marked by an increasing role of politics in his life and in his work in particular. The writer and his wife did not return to Nazi Germany from Switzerland when Hitler comes to power in 1933. Having settled not far from Zurich, they spend a lot of time traveling. The German authorities attempted to return the eminent writer to the country, and in response to his categorical refusal, they deprived him of German citizenship and took away an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn. Having first become a subject of Czechoslovakia, Mann emigrated to the United States in 1938, where for three years he taught humanities at Princeton University and advised the Library of Congress on issues German literature. During 1941-1952. his life path associated with California.

After the end of World War II, life in the United States was complicated by the fact that T. Mann, who was keen on the ideas of socialism, was accused of complicity Soviet Union. In East and West Germany he is greeted extremely cordially, but the writer decides not to return to his homeland, which has turned into two camps. In 1949, on behalf of both Germanys, he was awarded the Goethe Prize (in addition, Mann was awarded honorary degrees by the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford).

The most significant works of art This period includes the novel “Doctor Faustus” and the tetralogy “Joseph and His Brothers,” on which he worked for more than ten years. The last novel, “The Adventures of the Adventurer Felix Krul,” remained unfinished.

In the summer of 1952, T. Mann and his family came to Switzerland and lived there until his death in 1955.

Thomas Mann - list of all books

All genres Novel Fairy tale/Parable Prose

Roman (60%)

Fairy tale/Parable (20%)

Prose (20%)

Especially if you take into account how much women - you may smile that I, in my youth, allow myself some generalizations - how much they, in their attitude towards a man, depend on the attitude of men towards them - then you will be surprised nothing. Women, I would say, are creatures in which reactions are very strong, but they are deprived of independent initiative, lazy - in the sense that they are passive. Allow me, albeit rather awkwardly, to develop my thought further. A woman, as far as I have been able to notice, considers herself primarily an object in love affairs, she allows love to approach her, she does not choose freely and becomes a choosing subject only on the basis of the man’s choice; and even then, let me add, freedom of choice - of course, if the man is not too insignificant - is not a necessary condition; freedom of choice is influenced, the woman is captivated by the fact that she was chosen. My God, these are, of course, commonplaces, but when you are young, everything naturally seems new, new and amazing to you. You ask a woman: “Do you love him?” “But he loves me so much,” she answers you. And at the same time, he either raises his gaze to the sky or lowers his gaze. Just imagine that we men would give such an answer - excuse me for generalizing! Maybe there are men who would answer that way, but they would be simply funny, these heroes are under the shoe of love, I will say in an epigrammatic style. It is interesting to know what kind of self-esteem a man might be talking about when he gives such a feminine answer. And does a woman believe that she should treat a man with boundless devotion because he, in choosing her, showed mercy to such a lowly creature, or does she see in a man’s love for his person a sure sign of his superiority? During my hours of reflection, I have asked myself this question more than once. – You touched upon the primordial classic facts antiquity, a kind of sacred tribute,” Peperkorn said. “A man is intoxicated by desire, a woman demands that his desire intoxicate her.” Hence our duty to test true feeling, hence the unbearable shame for insensitivity, for the powerlessness to awaken desire in a woman.

From the book “The Magic Mountain” -

If you are a champion of health, then allow me to tell you that it has little in common with art and spirit, to some extent it is even contraindicated for them, and, in any case, health and spirit are not at all interested in each other.

From the book "Doctor Faustus" -

English mercantilism

Features of English mercantilism:

1) English economic thought begins to occupy first place in Europe;

2) prerequisites appear for the implementation of the free trade policy (free trade);

3) market relations England and other countries develop very harmoniously, and this harmony is achieved in all spheres (trade, agriculture, industry).

W. Stafford "A Cursory Discussion of English Politics"

William Stafford - representative of the English. mercantilism.

Home work- “A quick discussion of English politics. The idea is the problem of wealth accumulation in the country.

The work was written in the form of a dialogue between representatives of various segments of the population: a knight (landowner), merchant, artisan, farmer (cultivator) and theologian. The knight complains about the rise in price of goods. Farmer - to increase rent and “fencing” (when the land was transferred from cultivated to pasture). The merchant complains about the state of affairs among artisans - it, according to him, has become worse since landowners began to focus primarily on raising livestock. In all trades there is a decrease in the number of journeymen and apprentices. As for foreign trade, it has become less profitable, since foreigners have significantly raised the prices of their goods.

Key points:

1) Damage to coins by the state does not enrich the country, but harms its wealth.

2) It is equally unprofitable to force foreign merchants to spend money with us: they will take more than ours for their goods.

3) We cannot allow the export of our raw materials, because they are processed abroad, and when processed products are imported back, we pay for our own raw materials, for all foreign customs duties, for all our import duties.

4) From purchase foreign goods one should abstain even when they are sold cheaper compared to what they cost in England. Hence the need for state protection of domestic trade. Those. Stafford sought a policy of protectionism - the development of domestic industry by protecting it from foreign competition.

5) But not all trade needs to be encouraged. There are three types of trade:

Only removing money from the country (dealers of colonial goods and wine);

Spending all the money here that was earned here (tailors, butchers, bakers);

Importing money from abroad (exporting wool and leather processing products).

Only the third type - export industries - should be patronized. And it is not the raw materials that need to be exported, but the products of their processing.

6) Agriculture can neither employ all the workers in the country nor provide everyone with income. Industry is a more important matter.

7) The state should act not through prohibitions, but through duties and taxes.

Thomas Maine "England's Wealth in Foreign Trade"

The main idea of ​​the work is ways to enrich the kingdom.

In this work, Maine identifies ways and means to increase the export of goods and reduce the import of foreign ones:

"Sell annually at a large amount what we buy." For this:

1) expand the raw material base of industry (by plowing up vacant lots);

2) reduce excessive consumption of foreign goods;

3) increase competition with low prices (just not to lose sales); improve the quality of English products.

4) Export goods on our own ships, then we will receive not only the value of our goods in our country, but also the benefit that a foreign merchant receives when buying them from us for resale in his homeland, as well as the amount of insurance costs and freight for transporting them overseas.

5) Consume natural resources sparingly. Luxury, only through English goods “the excesses of the rich will give work to the poor”

6) develop fishing

7) establish transit trade

8) value trade with distant countries

9) Export money for trade purposes (refusal of the ban on export, because the abundance of money in the country is harmful and causes an increase in the price of goods).

10) goods made from foreign raw materials, such as velvet and other silks, twisted silk, etc., were exported duty-free.

11) Do not burden our domestic goods with too high duties , so as not to make them too expensive for foreigners and not to interfere with their sale.

12) Try to make as many of your own goods as possible, whether natural or artificial.

Maine rejects government intervention in trade. He sets the goal of trade to increase the amount of money in the country. Money must circulate, the result of which is an increasing amount of money in the country.

Natural wealth for mercantilists is the result of labor applied to nature, more precisely, it is the products of agriculture and the mining industry, as opposed to the products of manufacturing or artificial wealth.

Thomas Maine "Discourse on the Trade of England with the East Indies"

Maine was a member of the board of the famous East India Company and the government's trade committee.

The idea is to protect the East India trade against attacks on it from different sides. It gives a fairly clear picture of the first two decades of English trade with the East Indies.

1. Maine develops theory trade balance. The value of exports from England must exceed the value of imports - a trade surplus - the country's monetary fund will increase.

2. Classifies goods required for import into England:

Basic necessities (food, clothing, war supplies). This is due to the fact that there was a famine, and it was necessary to stock up on essential goods.

Goods necessary for the development of crafts

Decorations

3. Protects the export of money (10 shillings spent in India turns into 35 shillings after sale Indian goods in London).

4. “There are no other ways to get money except trade,” hence the two ways to increase the wealth of the state are:

1) consume more domestic goods;

2) consume less foreign goods .

Maine considers the essence of wealth, in which he distinguishes the natural products of territories and the artificial products of labor. Maine's natural wealth comes from agriculture and mining. Artificial wealth - products of the processing industry.

Cromwell's Navigation Act(valid for 200 years) - a law that contributed to the development of English maritime trade at a time when England's trade and fleet were in their infancy and required protective measures. Led to a series of Anglo-Dutch wars in the 17th century.

It was published, on the one hand, to encourage the English merchant fleet, and on the other hand, to destroy Holland's primacy at sea. According to the N. Act, goods from Asia, Africa, and America could be imported into Great Britain only on ships that belonged to British subjects and whose crew consisted of at least 3/4 British subjects; from Europe goods could be imported on British ships or on the ships of the country in which the goods were produced or in whose harbors they could first be loaded onto a ship.

Related information.

Basic concepts and problems of economic theory.

Economy is the activity of people associated with providing material conditions their lives. ET studies the sphere of production and distribution of vital goods in conditions of limited resources. This means that the object of study is ET phenomena. a decisive area of ​​human life, without which no other form of realization of personal and social interests is possible. The subject of ET is first of all eq. relations between people that develop in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption. There is real and shadow E (tax evasion). In any society, a triune problem is solved (Samuelson): what to produce, how to produce, for whom to produce. ET performs a number of functions that characterize it public purpose and role. The following functions of ET are distinguished: 1. Cognitive. It follows from the main task of ek-science - knowledge of the essence of ek-phenomena, the objective laws of ek-development. 2. Methodological. J. Keynes believed that ET is not a set of ready-made recommendations applied directly to households. practice. It is rather a method, an intellectual tool, a thinking technique, helping those who own it to come to the right conclusions. 3. Practical. Its content is to ensure economic policy. The results of the development of ET are directly used in practice. 4. Prognostic. It consists of developing scientific forecasts and prospects for economic development. In modern economic theory, it is customary to distinguish 3 sections: 1) microeconomics - a part of economic science that considers issues of one economic unit (firm, household) or private business; 2) macroeconomics is a part of economic theory that considers economic issues on a national scale, with society viewed as a collection of firms and households; 3) world economy (intereconomics) studies economic relations in the world community.

Mercantilism. Thomas Maine, Discourse on the Trade of England with the East Indies.

Particular attention was paid to the economy back in Ancient Rome. That is why economic theory is considered one of the most ancient sciences. As a science, economic theory arose in the late 16th – early 18th centuries. Mercantilism (England) is considered the first school of economic science. The main representatives of this trend were Thomas Mann, John Lowe, Richard Cantillon. "Mercantilism" with Italian language translated as "trade". And for good reason. Representatives of this school considered trade to be the main source of wealth, and wealth was identified with gold. Wealth is money, money can only be obtained through cooperation with state power. Basic principles of mercantilism: 1) gold and other treasures are the main wealth of society; 2) the main source of wealth is foreign trade and money circulation to ensure the influx of gold and silver into the country; 3) the state must actively intervene in the country’s economy; 4) domestic production develops due to the import of cheap raw materials; 5) export is encouraged; 6) low level maintaining wages due to population growth. Mercantilists considered an excess of exports over imports (active trade balance) to be a necessary condition for economic development. There are two stages in the development of mercantilism: 1) “early” mercantilism (until the middle of the 16th century); the most important thing in it is that money is the subject of treasures, 2) “late” mercantilism (mid-16th - mid-17th centuries); the beginning of establishing trade relations between countries through the supply of relatively cheap goods; the use of gold and silver is more common in intermediary transactions. Thomas Maine: it is necessary to export silver and gold abroad so as not to buy goods from the Turks and Levantines at three prices. Man published “A Discourse on England's Trade with the East Indies,” refuting monetarism (monetarism is a macroeconomic theory according to which the amount of money in circulation is a determining factor in the development of the economy) and substantiating the theory of “balance of trade.” In this pamphlet, Man noted that the East India Company was created not only as an enterprise that brought profit to its owners (shareholders), but also as an instrument of government policy. Man argued that the company was right in taking money out of England, because in the end it turns into importing more money into the country. more money. To explain his position, Man uses the “farmer’s metaphor”: the farmer, scattering grain (read “money”), expects a harvest that will not only cover the costs of the grain, but will also recoup them a hundredfold. In other words, to increase the flow precious metals to the country, you must first spend a certain amount of them.

3) Physiocracy. Francois Quesnay and his "Economic Table".

With the development of production, a new movement appears - physiocratism (power of nature), this term was introduced by Adam Smith. The main representatives of this school are Francois Canet (founder), Anne Robert, Jacques Turgot. Physiocrats considered wealth not money, but “the products of the earth.” Agricultural production, and not trade and industry, with their specifications, is the source of society’s wealth. For physiocrats, the wealth of a nation increases if there is and is constantly reproduced a difference between the products that are produced in agriculture and the products that were used to produce these products during the year, that is, the so-called land rent in kind. F. Quesnay called this difference “ pure product” and considered the only “productive class” in society to be the landowning class. Quesnay argued that “among all the means for acquiring property, there is not one that would be better, more profitable, more pleasant and decent for a person, even more worthy for a free person, than agriculture.” The main work of F. Quesnay “Economic Table” (1758) contains a scheme for dividing society into three main classes: 1) the productive class of farmers; 2) class of land owners; 3) “sterile class” - people not employed in agriculture. All three classes interact with each other and use money as a medium of exchange. The economic process was presented to the physiocrats as a natural harmony, which could even be described strictly mathematically. An integral part of the economic theory of physiocratism is the idea of ​​government non-interference in the course of economic life.

Introduction

Since the 14th century. In the economies of some Western European countries, the feudal mode of production is entering a stage of disintegration. Subsistence farming is gradually being replaced by commodity-money relations. Commodity exchange is increasingly becoming a condition of economic life. In the XV-XVII centuries. Europe is undergoing significant changes. Centralized national states are being formed, cities are actively growing and strengthening, trade, material production, and navigation are rapidly developing, great geographical discoveries and colonial conquests are being carried out, and the era of primitive accumulation of capital is underway. During this period, banking activities developed widely, trading houses and monopoly associations of traders appeared. The merchant class, previously considered the third estate, is moving to the forefront, both in economics and politics. In the field of science there is a gradual liberation from the influence of theology. Experimental science is developing.
Based on these processes in the advanced countries of Western Europe from the 14th century. starts to take shape economic doctrine and the policy of mercantilism (it. Mercante– trader, merchant).
Mercantilism, as an economic doctrine, is the first school of economic theory that arose in England, France, Italy and other countries in the initial period of the development of capitalism. Her followers attempted to determine the form of wealth in society and ways to increase it.
Mercantilists, the basis of wealth - both private and national - was represented in the form of the accumulation of money, coins made of gold and silver, the universal equivalent of a commodity economy. They measured the strength of the state by its monetary resources. The sources of money accumulation were profits (income) generated in foreign trade.
Mercantilism, as a policy, was aimed at creating strong national centralized states, which were supposed to provide national commercial capital with favorable conditions for its development due to the influx of money from other countries.
There are two stages in the development of mercantilistic politics: early mercantilism and late (mature) mercantilism.
Early mercantilism (monetarism), covers the XIV-XVI centuries. He was characterized by concern for the active monetary balance (the excess of the amount of money imported into the country over the amount exported from it). Since wealth is money, the main goal of the state is to attract foreign coin to the country and prevent its own from leaking abroad. For this purpose, administrative means were used that were of a coercive nature (“the law on spending”, “the law on detectives”) and manipulations in the sphere of monetary circulation (damage to money).
Late mercantilism (manufacture), end of the 16th - first half of the 18th centuries. opposed the ban on the export of money, which impeded the development of foreign trade, and for an active trade balance (the excess of the value of goods exported from the country over the value of goods imported into the country). Late mercantilism is characterized by a more mature approach, expressed in achieving the goal by economic means.
The most famous representatives of mercantilism were William Stafford, John Lowe, Antoine de Montchretien, Gaspard Scaruffi, Antonio Gevonesi. But the main theorist of late mercantilism, expressing the point of view of merchant capital, was Thomas Maine, later called the “trade strategist.”

Brief biographical information

Major works in the field of economics

"A Discourse upon the Trade of England with the East Indies, containing an Answer to the Various Objections which are commonly made against it," 1621.
Petition of London merchants trading with the East Indies, 1628
"The Wealth of England in Foreign Trade, or the Balance of our Foreign Trade, as the Regulator of our Wealth," 1630 (published 1664)

Views on the theory of wealth, the role of the state, labor, price, money, value.

A look at wealth theory

To achieve a positive balance of trade, “to sell to foreigners annually for a greater amount than we buy from them”;
Do not accumulate money as a treasure, but use it in trade operations, expand trade - “exporting our money is a means of increasing our wealth”;
Be economical in expenses, avoid wastefulness, excesses, and vicious idleness. Referring to the example of the industrious Dutch - neighbors of the English, Maine condemns those who, "indulging in pleasure and in recent years stupefying themselves with pipe and bottle, and like animals, sucking smoke and drinking each other's health," lose the usual valor that the English "often they showed so well both at sea and on land.”

conclusions

Late mercantilism developed his own system of recommendations in the field of regulation of foreign economic activity. This system was more flexible and focused on maintaining a trade surplus not only by stimulating trade, but also by stimulating production.

The fact is that late mercantilism corresponded to an era of active growth industrial production in England, France, and other European countries. And the recommendations of the early mercantilists, in particular a total ban on imports (raw materials for industry also fell under this ban), hindered the growth of production, trade and banking. Therefore, late mercantilism gave the government slightly different recommendations in the field of regulating foreign trade:

• Conquer foreign markets by offering relatively cheap goods, as well as by reselling goods.
• Allow the import of goods, especially raw materials, while maintaining a trade surplus in the country.
• Allow the export of gold and silver for trade transactions, intermediation and investment abroad.

Late mercantilism also redefined the role of money in the economy. Although the later mercantilists associated the value of money with the special properties of gold and silver, they recognized the commodity nature of money; they began to consider their main function as a medium of exchange; and moved from analyzing the country's monetary balance to analyzing its trade balance.

Thomas Mann (1571-1641) was an influential English merchant and was the most well-known representative late mercantilism. T. Mann wrote that there are no other ways to get money except trade, and when the cost of exported goods exceeds the cost of annual imports of goods, the country's monetary fund will increase. To increase this fund, T. Mann proposed, among other things, to cultivate land for crops that would help get rid of the import of certain goods (in particular, hemp, flax, tobacco), and also recommended abandoning excessive consumption of foreign goods in food and clothing by introducing laws on the consumption of goods of own production. Mann also noted that domestic goods should not be burdened with too many duties, so as not to make them too expensive for foreigners and thereby prevent their sale. There is a clearly expressed focus on speeding up the volume of exports of national products by reducing the price of exported goods. The economic policy proposed by T. Mann was later called the policy of protectionism, or the policy of protecting the national market. IN general view this policy amounts to restricting imports and promoting exports, and measures aimed at achieving this result remain unchanged to this day. These include: protective tariffs on imported goods, quotas, export subsidies and tax breaks for exporters, etc. Of course, these measures cannot be implemented without the support of the state, which is why representatives of both early and late mercantilism take for granted the active intervention of the state in economic processes.

But T. Mann's protectionism is limited; he does not require the government to replace all imports with domestic production; he even allows for indirect import incentives when he says: ...it would be a correct policy and beneficial to the state to allow goods made from foreign raw materials to be exported duty-free. These industries will provide employment to many poor people and will greatly increase the annual export of such goods abroad, which will increase the import of foreign raw materials, which will improve the receipt of government duties...

By the way, from this phrase we can conclude that the late mercantilists understood that the state’s struggle with the market is unproductive (a ban on imports will cause more damage to the economy than the opening of the domestic market); what do you have international trade there are some invisible laws that are stronger than state policy (they really didn’t understand that these laws lie in the field of production and didn’t study them); that national economies are developing along the path of specialization of production; that the international division of labor can bring benefits.

Among other representatives of late mercantilism it is worth mentioning John Law, who developed the first theory of credit money and the theory of monetary regulation of the economy by the banking sector. And Jean Baptiste Colbert occupied at Louis XIV post of Minister of Finance of France. Colbert sought to transform France into an industrial power through protectionist measures and government funding of industry. However, at the same time, he limited the export of agricultural products (primarily grain), considering them raw materials for foreign industry. This is precisely where the mercantilists’ misunderstanding of the principles of the international division of labor manifests itself.