how did adam smith criticize mercantilism：怎么亞當(dāng)史密斯批評重商主義

HowDidAdamSmithCriticizeMercantilismMercantilistideasaboutwealthwerenonsensicalanduntenable.Mercantilists’effortsofaccumulatinggoldandsilverbytradesurpluswereinvain.Mercantilisttradetheorywasself-contradictoryandlogicallyconfused.Invisiblehandalsoguidedforeigntrade.WhatIsRealWealth?

Mercantilismvs.AdamSmithThebasicmistakeofmercantilistideasaboutwealth:Theyconfusedthepreciousmetals,suchasgoldandsilver,withtherealwealthofthenation.Whatisrealwealth:“Thewealthofthecountryconsists,notinitsgoldandsilveronly,butinitslands,houses,andconsumablegoodsofalldifferentkinds.”FunctionofTradetoaCountryWhydidAdamSmithreachhisconclusionaboutwealth?Onlybecauseheviewedforeigntradeintherightlight.AsAdamSmithrecognized,foreigntradecouldexploretheoverseasmarketandgreatlyencourageddevelopmentofproductioncapabilityofacountryandnecessarilyledtoincreaseoftherealwealthpossessedbythecountry.

SomeQuotationsofAdamSmith“Toimportthegoldandsilverwhichmaybewanted,intothecountrieswhichhavenomines,is,nodoubt,apartofthebusinessofforeigncommerce.Itis,however,amostinsignificantpartofit.”“Theimportationofgoldandsilverisnottheprincipal,muchlessthanthesolebenefitwhichanationderivesfromitsforeigntrade.”CommodityExchangesvs.

ExchangesofGoldandSilver

“Thetransportationofcommodities,whenproperlysuitedtothemarket,isalwaysattendedwithaconsiderableprofits;whereasthatofgoldandsilverisscarceeverattendedwithany.Whenthosemetalsaresentabroadinordertopurchaseforeigncommodities,themerchant’sprofitarises,notfromthepurchase,butfromthesailofthereturns.Butwhentheyaresentabroadmerelytopayadebt,hegetsnoreturns,andconsequentlynoprofit.”適應(yīng)市場需求的商品與商品交換總是伴隨著相當(dāng)可觀的利潤，而黃金和白銀交易卻不能帶來任何利潤。當(dāng)這些貴金屬運到國外去是用于購買外國的商品，這只能導(dǎo)致進(jìn)口商人的利潤增加，當(dāng)然這種利潤的增加只是源于他們銷售進(jìn)口的商品，而不是源于他們的購買行為。但是，當(dāng)黃金和白銀運往國外僅僅是為了償付債務(wù)，則不會有任何商品的流入，也就更談不上利潤了。MysteryofMoneyandaWidespreadFeintWhenpeopleexchangewitheachotherbyusingcurrencyasthemediumofexchangescurrencymerelystandsforpurchasingpowerswithwhichwhatevergoodsorservicescanbeboughtwhenevertheyaredesired.Thatfactwillbeeasilymisunderstoodasawidespreadfeintthatwealthisonlyandexclusivelyexpressedintermsofcurrency.ConclusionofAdamSmithonWealthOnthewhole,acountrywaswealthyonlybecauseithadfosteredatremendousproductioncapacitythuscouldproducealotofconsumablegoodsandservicesnotbecauseitpossessedsomeamountofgoldandsilver.Itmustbeofinsignificanceforacountrytomerelyaccumulategoldandsilver.Onlythoseenjoyingtheirlargecapacityofproduction,beingactiveinforeigntrade,andexportingmoreandmoregoodsandservicestotheirtradepartnerscouldbecomewealthycountriesintheworld.Therefore,theideasaboutwealthofmercantilistswerenonsensicalanduntenable.Specie-flowAdjustmentMechanism

BasedonQuantityTheoryofMoneyDavidHumeinitiatedSpecie-flowAdjustmentMechanism.Humearguedthatgeneralpricelevelinasocietyinwhichgoldorsilverwereusedasmoneywouldberigidlydeterminedbydividingthetotalamountofspeciewiththetotalamountofcommoditiesexchangedinmarket.

FormulaofDeterminingPriceWhenPstandsforthegeneralpricelevel,MstandsfortotalamountofmoneystockandWstandsfortotalamountofcommodities,respectively,thefollowingformulaisconcluded.TradeSurpluscanDoNothinginAccumulatingGoldandSilverEvenifmercantilistsweregladthatalargeamountofgoldandsilverhadbeenimportedfromabroadbecausethecountry’stradesurplusthatmustbetoobad,notgood,forthecountrysinceenlargementofitsstockofmoneyimpliedtheoverallincreaseinthegeneralpriceleveltakingthetotalamountofcommoditiesconstant.Competitivenessofitsexportswouldbereducedwhereasgoodsproducedinothercountrieswouldbemorecompetitiveinthehomemarket.Goldandsilveraccumulatedthroughinnumerabletrialsandhardshipswouldgraduallyout-flowtillthecountry’spoolofmoneydriedup.Consequentlythecountrywouldatlastinevitablysurfertradedeficits.Tosumup,AdamSmithwrote:“Whenthequantityofgoldandsilverimportedintoanycountryexceedstheeffectualdemand,novigilanceofgovernmentcanpreventtheirexportation.”Self-contradictionof

MercantilistTradeTheory

Accordingto“zero-or-sumgame”whatacountrygainedintradewasjustthelossesintradesufferedbytheothercountrysincethetotalwealth,intermsofgoldandsilver,oftheworldwasconstant.Itmustbeassumedthatallcountrieswillfollowthesameprinciplesofnationaleconomicegoismanddesiredtoearnintrade.SomeKeen-edgedQuestionsAllcountrieswanttobenefitfromtradewhoarewillingtosuffer.Nocountrywantstosufferfromtradethenhowcantheothercountriesacquirethepossibletradebenefits?Ifthatistrueisitpossiblefordifferentcountriestotradewitheachother?Fromwherecantheworldfindareasonablebasisfortrade?TheBasicTheoreticalFalsehoodofMercantilistTradeTheory

Asatheoryitentirelydidnotexplorewhatistrade,whytotrade,howtotrade,andaretheregenerallyexistingtradebenefits?Itwaslittlemorethanatheoreticaltoolofthefeudalistlords,rulersofthesovereigntiesandlargemerchantstoexercisecolonialexploitationanddilationflauntingthebanneroftrade.Trade,intheeyesofthemercantilists,wasnothingbutbald-facedspoliation.MercantilisttradetheorycouldonlyexplaintradebetweenthewesternEuropeanpowerswiththecolonies.Thatmustbeaveryspecialcaseoftrade.Thetheorywasnotofgeneralsignificance.InvisibleHandinForeignTrade

AdamSmithintroducedhistheoryoflaissezfaireintotheanalysisoftradeproblem.Hecriticizedmercantilisttradepolicyofinterveningandmonopolizingtradebusiness.Invisiblehandwouldalsoguidedtradejustlikeitdidindomesticeconomicperformances.AdamSmith’sConclusion“Whatisthespeciesofdomesticindustrywhichhiscapitalcanemploy,andofwhichtheproduceislikelytobeofthegreat