Bullionism is an economic
theoryThe term theory has two broad sets of meanings, one used in the empirical sciences and the other used in philosophy, mathematics, logic, and across other fields in the humanities. There is considerable difference and even dispute across academic disciplines as to the proper usages of the term...
that defines
wealthWealth is an abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
by the amount of
precious metalA precious metal is a rare naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value,which is not radioactive . Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...
s owned. Bullionism is an early or primitive form of
mercantilismMercantilism is an economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable." Economic assets or capital, are represented by bullion held by the state, which is best increased through a...
. It was derived, in the 16th century, from the observation that
the English stateEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
possessed large amounts of
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
and
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, in spite of the fact that there was no mining of precious metals on English soil, because of its large
trade surplusThe balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports...
.
Thomas MillesThomas Milles was an English customs official, known for his economic writings, in which he defended the staple system.-Life:...
(1550-1627) and others recommended increasing exports in order to get a trade surplus, converting it into precious metals and hindering the drain of money and precious metal to other countries.
Bullionism is an economic
theoryThe term theory has two broad sets of meanings, one used in the empirical sciences and the other used in philosophy, mathematics, logic, and across other fields in the humanities. There is considerable difference and even dispute across academic disciplines as to the proper usages of the term...
that defines
wealthWealth is an abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
by the amount of
precious metalA precious metal is a rare naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value,which is not radioactive . Chemically, the precious metals are less reactive than most elements, have high lustre, are softer or more ductile, and have higher melting points than other metals...
s owned. Bullionism is an early or primitive form of
mercantilismMercantilism is an economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable." Economic assets or capital, are represented by bullion held by the state, which is best increased through a...
. It was derived, in the 16th century, from the observation that
the English stateEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
possessed large amounts of
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
and
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, in spite of the fact that there was no mining of precious metals on English soil, because of its large
trade surplusThe balance of trade is the difference between the monetary value of exports and imports of output in an economy over a certain period. It is the relationship between a nation's imports and exports...
.
Examples of bullionists
Thomas MillesThomas Milles was an English customs official, known for his economic writings, in which he defended the staple system.-Life:...
(1550-1627) and others recommended increasing exports in order to get a trade surplus, converting it into precious metals and hindering the drain of money and precious metal to other countries. Although England practised the interdiction of exportation of £ or precious metals at about 1600, Milles desired to return to
staple portA staple port is a port designated by a government or monarch as a place where specific goods may be exported or imported.The most famous example was the English wool staple, often simply known as 'the staple', which was exclusively designated by the English crown as the port of import to...
s in order to force merchants from abroad to use their assets to buy English goods and to prevent them from transferring gold or silver from England homewards. But Milles was not viewed as one who had any valuable words to say on the subject, as one of his contemporaries wrote “…Milles was so much out of step with the time that his pamphlets had little influence...”
Gerard de MalynesGerard de Malynes was an independent merchant in foreign trade, an English commissioner in the Spanish Netherlands, a government advisor on trade matters, assay master of the mint, and commissioner of mint affairs...
(1586 - 1641), another bullionist, published a book, called
A Treatise of the Canker of England's Common Wealth, in which he asserted that the exchange of foreign currency had been a trade of value rather than exchanging the weight of metals. Therefore the unfair exchanging of precious metals by bankers and money changers, would result in the deficit of English balance of trade. In order to ban the flow of
exchange rateIn finance, the exchange rates between two currencies specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. It is the value of a foreign nation’s currency in terms of the home nation’s currency...
s, he demanded the strict fixing of exchange rates for
coinA coin is a piece of hard material, usually metal or a metallic material and sometimes made of synthetic materials, usually in the shape of a disc, and most often issued by a government. Coins are used as a form of money in transactions of various kinds, from the everyday circulation coins to the...
s, only by the concentration of precious metals and weights and for strict regulation and monitoring of foreign trade. But de Malynes did not convince his contemporaries “…that the cambists were responsible for gold outflow or to elicit enthusiasm for a
monopolyIn economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it...
sale of exchange, par pro pari, by the royal exchanger…" But he succeeded in creating the first economic controversy:
Edward MisseldenEdward Misselden was an English merchant, and leading member of the writers in the Mercantilist group of economic thought. He argued that international movements of specie and fluctuations in the exchange rate depended upon the international trade flows and not the manipulations of the bankers,...
opposed him 1623 in his book
The Circle of Commerce: Or, the Balance of Trade.