who benefited from the mercantilist system
M ercantilism is economic nationalism for the purpose of building a wealthy and powerful state. Adam Smith coined the term âmercantile systemâ to describe the system of political economy that sought to enrich the country by restraining imports and encouraging exports.dam Smith refuted the idea that the wealth of a nation is measured by the size of the treasury in his famous treatise The Wealth of Nations, a book considered to be the foundation of modern economic theory. Smith made a number of important criticisms of mercantilist doctrine.