Itwasoneofthetendenciesagainstwhichinnumerablemercantilistwritersthundered，andIdonotthinkitwouldbepossibletofindasingledissentientvoice。[162]2Themercantilistswereawareofthefallacyofcheapnessandthedangerthatexcessivecompetitionmayturnthetermsoftradeagainstacountry。ThusMalyneswroteinhisLexMercatoria1622:\'StrivenottoundersellotherstothehurtoftheCommonwealth，undercolourtoincreasetrade:fortradedothnotincreasewhencommoditiesaregoodcheap，becausethecheapnessproceedethofthesmallrequestandscarcityofmoney，whichmakeththingscheap:sothatthecontraryaugmentethtradewhenthereisplentyofmoney，andcommoditiesbecomedearerbeinginrequest\'。[
163]ProfessorHeckschersumsupasfollowsthisstrandinmercantilistthought:Inthecourseofacenturyandahalfthisstandpointwasformulatedagainandagaininthisway，thatacountrywithrelativelylessmoneythanothercountriesmust\'sellcheapandbuydear\'……
EvenintheoriginaleditionoftheDiscourseoftheCommonWeal，thatisinthemiddleofthe16thcentury，thisattitudewasalreadymanifested。
Halessaid，infact，\'Andyetifstrangersshouldbecontenttotakebutourwaresfortheirs，whatshouldletthemtoadvancethepriceofotherthingsmeaning:amongothers，suchaswebuyfromthem，thoughoursweregoodcheapuntothem？Andthenshallwebestilllosers，andtheyatthewinninghandwithus，whiletheyselldearandyetbuyoursgoodcheap，andconsequentlyenrich[Page346]THE
GENERALTHEORYOFEMPLOYMENTthemselvesandimpoverishus。YethadIratheradvanceourwaresinprice，astheyadvancetheirs，aswenowdo；thoughsomebelosersthereby，andyetnotsomanyasshouldbetheotherway。\'Onthispointhehadtheunqualifiedapprovalofhiseditorseveraldecadeslater1581。