Mercantilism Mercantilism, economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation’s economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers. It was the economic counterpart of political absolutism. It was given currency by the Scottish economist Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1776). –Encyclopedia Britannica an economic system developing during the decay of feudalism to unify and increase the power and especially the monetary wealth of a nation by a strict governmental regulation of the entire national economy usually through policies designed to secure an accumulation of bullion (see bullion 1), a favorable balance of trade, the development of agriculture and manufactures, and the establishment of foreign trading monopolies -Merriam-Webster