Price–specie flow mechanism

The price–specie flow mechanism is a logical argument by David Hume (1711–1776) against the Mercantilist idea that a nation should strive for a positive balance of trade, or net exports. The argument considers the effects of international transactions in a gold standard, a system in which gold is the official means of international payments and each nation’s currency is in the form of gold itself or of paper currency fully convertible into gold.