According to DeepSeek I am going to expose you to the following: "This lecture is a model for how to introduce historical economic thought to a general audience.
It successfully transforms the potential dryness of mercantilist theory into a dynamic and relevant story.
By connecting historical flaws to modern concepts and concluding with an unassailable logical argument,
it not only explains why mercantilism declined but also actively builds intellectual curiosity for what came next, the birth of capitalism.
It is an excellent piece of pedagogical writing."
So, fasten seatbelts. Here we go :-)
In the previous lecture I drew a really positive picture of mercantilism and told you that it was the dominant economic doctrine in Europe from roughly 1500 to 1750.
It held that national wealth and power depended on a positive balance of trade, the accumulation of gold and silver, and strong state control of economic activity.
Interestingly, the current president of the US seems to have adopted this economic doctrine again. Let's not debate the reasons he gives for this choice.
More important is to understand why around 1750 this mercantilist economy didn't work anymore. Apparently there were drawbacks.
We already discussed one: the zero-sum thinking. One country's gain is another country's loss. But is that really the case?
Trade can be mutually beneficial. Other countries are not by definition your enemies in trade, yet it led to trade rivalery and colonial wars.
But there is another flaw in the mercantilist theory of economics. Mercantilists believed that the wealth of a nation is hoarding gold and silver.
But what does this wealth do for a country? It just sits in the treasury. You can buy things with it, pay your army and fleet, but one day you may see the bottom of the treasury. What then?
What really creates wealth for a nation is production capacity, creating goods that can be exported and sold.
Or a country can develop new technologies, something we see these days happen all the time. ASML chipmachines, Artificial Intelligence, robotics.
Other options are human capital, creating better education or focusing on innovation, develop new products.
One of the problems with mercantilism was that it easily led to protectionism. Frustrate import of certain goods by high tariffs.
Keep innovation and technological changes from abroad away to protect your own industry.
The belief that trade surpluses are vital for national survival encouraged as I already mentioned protectionism,
but also piracy and privateering and naval arms races to protect colonies. In the period of 1500 to 1750 we see dozens of wars between the Dutch and the English, Anglo-French conflicts...
Let me conclude with a final remark. Mercantilism claims that every nation should export more than it imports.
But this overlooks an important fact: not all nations can have a surplus simultaniously.
It is mathematically impossible that all nations export more than they import at the same time, because the world's total exports is equal to the total imports.
Well, we have reached 1750 and are standing at the cradle of real capitalism. Let's find out how that came into being.
Thank you for your attention again ...the floor is yours
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1995
of Economic Thought (2012)
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
24 - Materialism 7 Sept 2022 / 1011
25 - Historical Materialism 5 Oct 2023 / 1088
26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist 9 Jan 2024 / 1102
27 - Artificial Intelligence 9 Feb 2024 / 1108
28 - Why Am I Here 6 Sept 2024 / 1139
The Discussion
[13:17] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:18] Max Chatnoir: Real capitalism on Thursday?
[13:18] herman Bergson: WWhat strikes me is that you see all these mercantilist trasits i the current American economy.
[13:18] herman Bergson: Almost there, Max...
[13:19] herman Bergson: But there is an intersting aspect to it....
[13:19] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): maybe these leaders here are from the 17th century reborn
[13:20] herman Bergson: In the 80/90s the US and many European countries have "exported" production.
[13:20] herman Bergson: And as I said...not trade but production creates new value
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true
[13:20] herman Bergson: ANd in a way Trump is right that the US imports more than it exporsts
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): no question
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): we always have
[13:21] Max Chatnoir: More in total value?
[13:21] herman Bergson: BUt all big companies have moved their production to cheap countries....simply because it created profits
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): since world war 2 ending
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): merchantilism is a bit like Scrooge McDuck in the Ducktales cartoon, a vault full of gold and just sitting on it (or rather swimming in it in this case)
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but refusing to buy anythinng with it
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as i said before, money should work
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): work and circulate in the system
[13:23] herman Bergson: All textile industry has disappeared in the Netherlands for instance....almost all clothes are imported... and trying to get the production back to the Netherlands is an impossibility....
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its all made in china now, fast fashion style
[13:24] herman Bergson: everything would become too expensive....no big profits for the big companies
[13:24] Max Chatnoir: a lot of it seems to be going into buyint politicians these days.
[13:24] Max Chatnoir: buying
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true
[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Indonesia is doing a lot of clothing
[13:25] herman Bergson: Bangladesh too
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i saw that china is dumping non electric cars all over the globe because Chinese are buying electric only
[13:25] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): htye are so far ahead of us all in solar etc
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and using it themselves
[13:26] Max Chatnoir: a lot of stuff that I have seems to come from China. Like little notepads.
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well that is good for once, that they are going for clean energy
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): right
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): not just oil and coal
[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ahead there !!!
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like beefore
[13:26] herman Bergson: Yes, when I see videos of what in China is happening....
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well the smog was so thick with smog back then u had machines to breath air on the streets or youd quickly die from smog poisoning,
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): it was that bas aas i understand before
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): bad
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): India has that
[13:27] herman Bergson: MAkes me think of that question, why communist economy in the USSR collapsed and not in CHina?
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i guess the leaders at the time
[13:28] herman Bergson: I already have done extensive research on that question....
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): one gave in the other didnot
[13:28] herman Bergson: Nice material for future lectures...for it is really fascinating
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): it is
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:29] Stranger Nightfire: Chinese economy was not all that great before shifted into incorporating capitalism
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very true
[13:30] herman Bergson: yes
[13:31] herman Bergson: We'll definitely have a look at how that process went in China.
[13:31] Stranger Nightfire: But I would say they shifted into a far more intelligent form of capitalism
[13:31] Stranger Nightfire: which is why they're running circles around us today
[13:31] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ohoh
[13:31] Max Chatnoir: Different how, Stranger?
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): bad word
[13:32] herman Bergson: That is one of the big points, Stranger....
[13:32] Stranger Nightfire: Just one example the Chinese invest very heavily in education
[13:32] herman Bergson: They have a state controlled capitalism....
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): but only certain people get that education tho
[13:33] Stranger Nightfire: And they invest in their working class rather than just exploiting them
[13:33] Stranger Nightfire: They have been raising their people out of poverty while the US has been driving their people into poverty
[13:33] herman Bergson: Which us a real capitalist issue, Stranger
[13:33] Päivi (nicolesteel): They have a demographic issue that will be a burden in the future.
[13:34] herman Bergson: Like we have in Europe....too many elderly people
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): right i think they finally ssaw the policy of one child was bad
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and now cant even pay people to have more
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): young not interested
[13:36] herman Bergson: But these are all capitalist problems, which you can not solve with mercantilist solutions, as we have seen.
[13:37] herman Bergson: As you see we are still far from the answer about why capitalism eventually became the system.
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): true
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aah
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): easy to get off course
[13:38] herman Bergson: Gemma brought a book to my atttention by Sven Beckert, The global history of Capitalism.
[13:38] Guestboook van tipjar stand: Gemma Cleanslate donated L$100. Thank you very much, it is much appreciated!
[13:39] Max Chatnoir: Sorry I missed last Tuesday. I got locked out of SL for a couple of days. Still haven't figured out why.
[13:39] herman Bergson: I am curious to learn what he has to say...got it only a few days ago. 1300 pages :-)
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm ok
[13:39] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): there were issues Max
[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Good reading
[13:40] Max Chatnoir: What issues, Gemma?
[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the first couple hundred pages should add to the info for why
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): cloudflare and stuff i guess
[13:40] herman Bergson: I wonder if I agree with his interpretation.
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): shutting down the entire internet more or less a while
[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): many were reporting problems Max
[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): sl problems
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): could nto get in
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): getting logged off etc
[13:41] Max Chatnoir: Anybody know why?
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the lab
[13:41] herman Bergson: You didnt miss a lecture last Tuesday, Max, we went playing golf :-))
[13:41] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ツ
[13:42] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Thursday was our Thanksgiving too
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ok only sl had issues, because i read recently these cloudflare things happening shutting down lots of servces, the reason i did not notice is proably because im asleep at that time
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): here in sweden
[13:42] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): right bej i saw that too
[13:42] herman Bergson: The yearly problem, Gemma :-)
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:43] herman Bergson: Well, let's see what Thursday will bring us.....the first real steps toward capitalism?
[13:43] bergfrau Apfelbaum: where do we meet if SL is unavailable or suddenly shuts down?
[13:44] bergfrau Apfelbaum: 👀
[13:44] herman Bergson: in Heaven, I think, Bergie
[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): on the blog i guess
[13:44] bergfrau Apfelbaum: lol
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:45] herman Bergson: But being still in SL, let me thankyou again for your attention....
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:45] herman Bergson: As always it was a pleasure ㋡
[13:45] herman Bergson: Class dismissed....
[13:45] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ty
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes very nice and interesting again
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:46] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): hope to be here Thursday
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman, very interesting again:)
[13:46] Max Chatnoir: Thanks, Herman. See you Thursday!
[13:46] bergfrau Apfelbaum: thank you Herman and class!!
No comments:
Post a Comment