For an interesting look at the impact of the last time a whole load of expensive and rare materials were brought home from a new world, see here[1]. It's also w

For an interesting look at the impact of the last time a whole load of expensive and rare materials were brought home from a new world, see here[1]. It's also worth looking into the price revolution[2], a 150 year period of time where the import of unheard of masses of gold and silver into European markets had a startlingly unstable effect on the Spanish economy. [1] - http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/611/what-happened-to-all-the-gold-spain-got-from-the-new-world http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/611/what-happened-t... [2] - http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/ghgonline/units/4/documents/Lynch1.pdf http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/ghgonline/units/4/docume...