What good is Merchantilism?

[padillah]

Why would blocking trade routes that bring you money be a good idea?

I don't get it.
Tom P.

[CerberusIV]

Because you get a free specialist in every city (that is a specialist citizen in addition to the actual city population - so a free engineer/artist/merchant/priest that produces hammers or beakers or gold or culture but doesn't eat any food).

If you can run the representation civic you get an extra 3 beakers for each of those free specialists too.

TBH I mainly use mercantilism when I get a start on an isolated continent and can't trade with most of the AI civs, then switch to free market once I know astronomy for the more valuable trade routes.

[Jvstin]

Exactly. On a pangaea, Mercantilism makes little sense unless you are at war with half of the civs at the time. In an isolated game, the extra specialist combined with Representation makes it very attractive, even if you have one or two AIs to trade with. If your money situation is pretty good, you might want to consider taking the trade hit.

[Solver]

Mercantilism is good if everyone hates you, or if you're alone on the continent without Astronomy (if you have neighbours without Open Borders, that counts as alone). A free specialist is a good thing after all!

[GeoModder]

And on top of that, being financial with the Colossus in your pocket lets you have the bigger (sea)commerce income, not to mention that certain wonder that gives you +culture on your specialists. Less of a hit when not so many civs are prepared to open borders on you.

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

What interests me is that, if you consider what Mercantilism historically represents, then it would make sense that it should reduce the distance maintainance costs of your cities. Why? Because European mercantilism was a driving force behind European colonialism in the 17th to 19th centuries.
Just a thought. I confess that I rarely, if ever, use mercantilism simply because the cost of losing my trade routes is never equal to the benefit of gaining the specialists. If, however, my city costs dropped too-then I might use it even IF I was surrounded by friends.

EDIT: I also wish there was an additional, earlier economic civic. I always feel I have to wait such a LONG time to change my economic civics, wheras all my other civic categories have been changable since early on in the game!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[Older than Dirt]

If you do not have commerce with foreign civs, why not use mercantilism. It must be useful because the AI uses it and the AI is smart about commerce. Isn't it?

[murphy54]

it means good trading

[Rommel2D]

I'm just wondering how many people have noticed that the trade route limitation is a one-way deal? Other players are still able to trade with your cities. Very counter-intuitive considering that the central concept behind mercantilist systems was to create a positive trade balance with other states...

[Blake]

As of latest patch Merchantalism is now a two way deal, no-one can trade with your cities.

This can make it good for particullary sprawling empires, for example take a partnership between a large civ with 20 cities and a small civ with 10 cities, both civs have 3 trade routes per city. The large civ will gain 10 trade routes, the small civ will gain 20 trade routes. The largest benefit definitely goes to the smaller civ.

Altough running Merchantalism for denial purposes is only useful if pretty much everyone else is being isolationist, being one isolationist in a world of traders is not good economic sense.

[Jvstin]

Hmm, how hard would it be to code in a response to that? It wouldn't be hard to cut off the trade routes, but surely that would result in a diplo hit of some sort if you did it, since you are taking possibly more profitable routes away from the AI's?

[Silver14]

Some Civics work well together. Using caste system, representation, and mercantilism and having built the Sistine Chapel each city could have a free specialist, artist or scientist or what-not that generates extra research and culture.

And don't forget specialists generate more GP points, being philosophical and having the Parthenon will enhance further the GP points being generated by mercantilism.