★ Mercantilists thought that the amount of wealth in the world would remain unchanged.

★ They believed that a country's wealth just includes the amount of precious metal or billions it has.

★ Encouraging exports over imports so as to get a favorable balance in foreign trade.

★ A large population of a country would be the key to autonomy and state power.

★ They had a belief that the state should play a dominant role in assisting and directing the national and international economies to these ends.