重商主义及其当代意义

Mercantilism and Its Contemporary Significance

在当代语境下,重商主义具有多重含义。本文研究了斯密重商主义和熊彼特重商主义经济思想的起源,并对比两种重商主义关于经济增长和制度建构的核心观点。狭义的斯密重商主义局限于贸易和货币领域,认为重商主义学说存在混淆货币积累与国民财富增长、混淆商人利益与国家利益的错误,并认为重商主义制度反自由市场经济,代表了一个有碍于经济发展的寻租社会。广义的熊彼特重商主义重视在产业和创新领域寻求一国经济发展和国际竞争力的源泉,强调提升制造业附加值是一国经济发展的关键,并为此建立了一套推动制造业创新发展的制度体系,代表了一个持续推动经济现代化的国家治理体系。本文还探讨了两种重商主义对辨析当今关于经济发展模式的流行观点的价值和启示。

In the contemporary context,mercantilism has multiple meanings.This paper explores the origins and compares the main thoughts on economic growth and institutions of Smithian mercantilism and Schumpeterian mercantilism.The narrow sense of Smith’s mercantilistism is limited to the field of trade and currency,which believes that the mercantilist doctrine has errors that confuse currency accumulation and national wealth growth,as well as the interests of businessmen and national interests.In this tradition,mercantilism is an economic system that opposes free market economy and represents a rent-seeking society that hinders economic development.The broad sense of Schumpeterian mercantilism seeks economic development and global competitiveness from production and innovation,and emphasizes that increasing the added value of manufacturing is the key to a country’s economic development.Thus,Schumpeterian mercantilism also invented a pro-manufacturing institutional system that facilitates innovation and development,which represents a national governance system that promotes sustainable economic development.This paper also comments the contemporary relevance and implications of two versions of mercantilism.