As the economic aspect of state absolutism, mercantilism was of necessity a system of state-building, of big government, of heavy royal expenditure, of high taxes, of (especially after the late 17th century) inflation and deficit finance, of war, imperialism, and the aggrandizing of the nation-state, writes Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995).

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Jeff Riggenbach.