In this Smart Talk video series, Andrew Mazzone and Dr. Edward Neil discuss manorial system, mercantilist economy and globalization. The manorial system was an economic and social system of medieval Europe. All legal and economic power belonged to the lord of the manor, who was supported economically from his land and from contributions from the peasant population under his authority. Tenants’ obligations could be paid to the lord in the form of labor, goods, or coin. Manorialism has its roots in the late Roman Empire, and was the dominant form of rural economics for most of western and central Europe throughout the Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries). It was replaced by money-based economies and other agricultural agreements. Mercantilism was the main economic system used during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. The main goal was to increase a nation’s wealth by imposing government regulation concerning all of the nation’s commercial interests.
Dr. Edward J. Nell is an American economist and a former professor at the New School for Social Research (NY). Nell was a member of the New School faculty from 1969 to 2014. He achieved the rank of Malcolm B. Smith Professor of Economics in 1990. He is currently the chief economist for Recipco.