Source: Martín González de Cellorigo, The Restoration of the Republic, 1600.

Our Spain has set her eyes so strongly on the business of the Indies,* from where she obtains gold and silver, that she has forsaken the care of her own kingdoms. With people having put their wealth into gold and silver and into making loans that pay interest, it is as if a general epidemic had thrown this kingdom into misery by persuading all to live off this money. With the large amount of money that has been minted, leases, rents, and taxes have gone up, reaching levels that could not be paid if there were not in the kingdom such a large quantity of money. The Romans saw this when Paulus Emilius brought back gold and silver from the kingdom of Macedonia and the prices of things went up by a third. The same happened to our people in Peru, where with the abundance of money and the lack of everything else, a piece of clothing coast a thousand ducados and a pound of grapes was sold for a pound of silver.

*The Americas