What were the causes and impacts of the Commercial Revolution?

Question

What were the causes and impacts of the Commercial Revolution?

Answer 1

From Wikipedia:

The Commercial Revolution was a period of European economic expansion, colonialism, and mercantilism which lasted from approximately 1520 until 1650. Voyages of discovery in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries allowed European powers to build vast networks of international trade. In turn they generated a great deal of wealth for them. This growing global economy was based on silver, which allowed the purchase of goods (like Chinese spices) which Europeans desired but had nothing of similar interest for which to exchange it. Until this time there had been no economic theory; the stresses of the new global order, however, brought about two opposing theories of how a nation accumulates wealth: mercantilistic and free-trade policies. Mercantilism inflamed the growing hostilities between the increasingly-centralized European powers, leading to such famous conflicts as the American Revolution. Another important outcome of Europe's "commercial revolution" was a foundation of wealth needed for the industrial revolution.

The last link is especially interesting because it discusses the Commercial Revolution in China during the Ming dynasty that occurred about the same time as Europe's.

I hope that helps.