Corporations exist only because of the legal fiat of &quot;nations&quot; (nation states, anyway).<p>But, certainly not. Mercantilism benefits corporations much more strongly. Diseconomies of scale can be mostly inhibited through a strategically designed trade and fiscal policy. Slower falling unit production costs and opportunities for price fixing abound, as the &quot;nation&quot; (well, non-aristocratic taxpayers, anyway) bears these costs. Nor do tariffs necessarily reduce unemployment. The mercantile firm may well decide to keep its selling prices stable at a markup (especially given its lower customer base) and just lay workers off in event of supply shocks or other.<p>Protection is a Faustian gambit for more rapid growth today at the expense of hulking inefficient corporations tomorrow. Corporations that would not exist without it.