THE ECONOMY IN THE 17TH CENTURY
The European economy
In the 17th century, there was an agricultural crisis
Because economy was based in agriculture and it was affected by:
Farmers migrated to cities to avoid paying taxes
Agricultural techniques were old
Plagues
There were years of bad harvest
Wars 
Because of this, prices rose and a large amount of the population didn't have enough food
This is called a subsistence crisis
Consequently hunger spread and there was a demographic decline 
In the second half of the century, the situation improved
Because of this, there was an increase in the population
Due to the following factors
Fewer wars
Growth in colonial trade
Textile industries grew 
The monarch intervened in the economy implementing the mercantile capitalism
Under this system, governors had to
Increase the amount of precious metals entering their kingdom
Tax imported products
The economic crisis in Spain
The agricultural crisis and the decline in the population
The trade and craft industry crisis
Why did it happen?
It came involved in more wars than the other European powers
The expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609
It had very negative effects on agriculture since many of them were farmers
Many farmers migrated to the cities where they survived by begging
Pícaros became more predominant
Others migrated to America 
They ran out of resources from the Americas
The mines were almost empty 
Their sea route to the Americas was constantly under threat from pirates
Spanish manufactured products were not competitively priced in comparison to other countries
Industries were established in the Americas to meet the demand
The rest of the colonial empires established trading posts in the Americas