贴这个Term of the day是为了增加经济类的英文词汇。

Mercantilism was the main economic theory in the 16^th to 18^th century.  Governments regulated their economies to limit imports and maximize exports.  It was believed that by doing this, the nation’s wealth would increase because of the surplus in the country’s balance of trade.  The trade balance was represented by how much gold and silver bullion the country held in its treasury.

To maximize their trade, countries made efforts to expand overseas shipping.  This required a strong naval force to protect the commercial vessels.  As a result, England, France, Portugal and Spain were often at war in an attempt to dominate the seas. On the positive side, mercantilism spurred an increase in European global exploration as countries searched for new sources of raw materials. 

Mercantilism proved to be a difficult system to maintain.  Maximizing exports and limiting imports was often counterproductive and ended up harming a country’s economy more than it helped.  As a result, mercantilism gave way to laissez faire economies where free trade was allowed to flourish and government intervention was reduced.

http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/mercantilism/

Survivorship Bias