Summary
While trade flourished in the Mediterranean, Low Countries, and the Baltic, European businesses could not compete and inflation arose. Also, the standards of living dropped, but the rich prospered.
There were many technological advances during this time including pumps, which extracted water and were used for mining. Cheaper and faster shops were also created by the Dutch.
In finance, Amsterdam became the center city of banking in Europe and stock was created in England. In agriculture, 80% of the people worked land.
Mercantilism- "an economic system that sought to increase national wealth through a strictly regulated economy and a favorable balance of trade." It was believed that only one nation could expand its trade and prosper through the expense of others. Mercantilists also believed that in order for a country to prosper, they must “export goods of a greater value than those imported."
Mercantilism supported the government’s intervention in the economy which was viewed as good. “They granted trade monopolies, encouraged investment in new industries through subsides, imported foreign artisans, and improved transportation on systems by building roads, bridges, and canals.” By the seventeenth century, trading posts and colonies were set up in the Americas and the East and trade traveled back and forth across the Atlantic. Products that were consumed by the wealthy soon made their way into the lives of artisans and merchants through the Dutch, English, and French merchants; exotic spices, coffee, tea, and sugars from the Indies and Asia became readily available to Europe.
There were many technological advances during this time including pumps, which extracted water and were used for mining. Cheaper and faster shops were also created by the Dutch.
In finance, Amsterdam became the center city of banking in Europe and stock was created in England. In agriculture, 80% of the people worked land.
Mercantilism- "an economic system that sought to increase national wealth through a strictly regulated economy and a favorable balance of trade." It was believed that only one nation could expand its trade and prosper through the expense of others. Mercantilists also believed that in order for a country to prosper, they must “export goods of a greater value than those imported."
Mercantilism supported the government’s intervention in the economy which was viewed as good. “They granted trade monopolies, encouraged investment in new industries through subsides, imported foreign artisans, and improved transportation on systems by building roads, bridges, and canals.” By the seventeenth century, trading posts and colonies were set up in the Americas and the East and trade traveled back and forth across the Atlantic. Products that were consumed by the wealthy soon made their way into the lives of artisans and merchants through the Dutch, English, and French merchants; exotic spices, coffee, tea, and sugars from the Indies and Asia became readily available to Europe.