HIST 1330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Serfdom, Mercantilism, Commercial Revolution
Document Summary
Pure & simple: capitalism is production for the market (essentially). First process: in the 16th and 17th centuries there would actually be a global economic crisis. This crisis was known as the great inflation. Caused by the looting of the new world (americas), flooded afro-eurasia with gold and silver. Second process: the response that some states had to the great inflation, meaning there is a problem and a solution and together they created the commercial revolution. Because in the midst of this economic crisis, some states responded by inventing new institutions that resulted in the birth of capitalism. Before the 16th century, europe was an economic backwater. However, that would be begin to change at the turn of the 16th century. Reason it changed is because of the great inflation. Price goes up when there is much more demand on something. Demand/prices went up because the population of the world was increasing significantly.
