As critiques of free trade policies grow, The Neomercantilists sheds light on the protectionist turn, offering the first intellectual history of neomercantilism's evolution.

Eric Helleiner traces the ideology's pioneers from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries, highlighting advocates of strategic protectionism and government economic activism to promote state power. While Friedrich List is well-known, Helleiner also highlights lesser-known thinkers, many from beyond the West.

Helleiner's focus on neomercantilism's diverse origins challenges Western-centric accounts of its history. He uncovers neglected regional traditions and global exchanges of ideas that shaped distinct versions of the ideology in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. These ideas endure, influencing the two dominant powers in today's world economy: China and the United States.

The Neomercantilists is a groundbreaking study of influential economic ideas. It links the past to the present, urging more global approaches to studying political economy and the cross-border circulation of thought.