Happy Bastille Day, though I confess that I am rooting for España in today’s World Cup semi-final match in Arlington, Texas!

Now, picking up where we left off in my previous post, below is a comprehensive summary of Adam Smith’s survey of Britain’s complex web of mercantilist laws in Part #12 of Smith’s 1784 pamphlet (pp. 23-46). For reference, I have arranged this compilation into three separate categories as follows:

BRITISH LAWS ALLOWING OR PROMOTING THE IMPORTATION OF GOODS

• 24 George III, chap. 46 — foreign brown linen yarn
• 29 George III, chap. 15 — ditto
• 21st George II, chap. 30 — indigo from British plantations
• 4th George III, chap. 26 — hemp, or undressed flax, from British plantations
• 5th George III, chap. 45 — wood from America
• 9th George III, chap. 38 — raw silk from British plantations
• 2nd George III, chap. 50 — pipe, hogshead, and barrel staves and heading from British plantations
• 19th George III, chap. 37 — hemp from Ireland

BRITISH LAWS PROHIBITING OR DISCOURAGING THE EXPORTATION OF GOODS

• 3rd Edward IV — wool cards
• 39th Elizabeth — ditto
• 8th Elizabeth, chap. 3 — sheep, lambs, or rams
• 13th & 14th of Charles II, chap. 18 — wool
• 12th of Charles II, chap. 32, sect. 3 — ditto
• 7th and 8th of William III, chap. 28, sect. 4 — ditto
• 13th and 14th of Charles II, chap. 7 — raw hides and tanned leather, except in the shape of boots, shoes, or slippers
• various “old statutes of Edward III, Henry VIII, and Edward VI” — metals
• 25th George II — gum senega
• 5th George III, chap. 37 — ditto
• 14th George III, chap. 10 — ditto
• 7th & 8th of William III, chap. 20, sect. 8 — frames or engines for knitting gloves or stockings
• 14th George III, chap. 71 — tools used for the production of cotton, linen, woollen, and silk goods

BRITISH LAWS PROHIBITING ARTISANS FROM LEAVING THE COUNTRY

• 5th George I, chap. 27
• 23rd George II, chap. 13

DISCUSSION (PART 1 OF 3)

Combined, these laws present a nuanced, sophisticated, and (dare I say) “Marxian” picture of “the mercantile system”. For Smith, mercantilism is not just about promoting a favorable balance of trade by exporting finished goods or hoarding gold and silver. Mercantilism is also about raw materials! That is the pattern Smith brings to light in his meticulous survey of Britain’s complex web of mercantilist laws: the importation of raw materials is allowed or encouraged while their exportation is discouraged or strictly prohibited.

In addition, it is also worth noting that, of all the laws in his survey (see above), Smith has the most to say about the laws regulating the market for wool and the market for artisans: he devotes the most space to the ban on wool exports (see paragraphs 17 to 32 on pp. 29-38 of Smith’s 1784 pamphlet) and to the restrictions on artisans (see paragraphs 44 to 48 on pp. 43-45). Why did the legislature impose such strict and severe penalties for the exportation of wool? Why aren’t artisans allowed the freedom to relocate overseas? And what effect did these restrictions have in practice? As it happens, Adam Smith is at his best when he addresses these questions, so I will turn to Smith’s discussion of these restrictions in my next two posts. (To be continued …)