MUN, Thomas.

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A Discourse of Trade, From England unto the East-Indies: Rare first edition of Mun's first publication, the first systematic presentation of his ideas about trade within a defence of the East India Company's monetary policies which included the exportation of money under certain trade conditions. Written in response to the specific charge that the Company's trade with India had caused the economic depression of 1620 by draining England of silver, his work had great influence on subsequent thought and made him the foremost English exponent of mercantilism. The seeds of a balance of trade theory are present in the closing pages of Mun's essay, but as Johnson notes: "There is no mention... of the balance of trade because Misselden had not yet coined the phrase." With A Discourse of Trade, Mun answered the charge that the East India Company's privilege of exporting bullion was draining the country of specie. "He defended the practice and argued that it was to England's advantage, since useful commodities were brought in which could be purchased elsewhere only at higher cost. The re-export of these goods further netted England a profit; thus the net result was an inflow, not an outflow, of specie. He brought countercharges that the economic evils resulted from manipulations of the exchange and excessive consumption of foreign goods" (Bell)."Flattering himself that he had now cleared the skirts of the India Company, Mun turned in the last ten pages of the book to some general obser

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