What were the economic effects of the Black Death on western Europe at this time?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

While the obvious answer is depopulation, there are several qualifications. Depopulation by 33 to 50 percent of the population created an enormous decline in the market both in terms of who was buying and who was producing goods to sell. Agriculture was tremendously diminished because of lack of labor both from those who died in the plague and those who fled to cities to find relief. Decreased agriculture meant decreased food availability, which was particularly problematic for the urban areas that were dependent on surplus agriculture for their food supply. Trade also decreased because the demand for luxury goods was sidelined. The longer-term result of this was that trade was harder to reestablish in the wake of the plague because many competitors in Muslim regions picked up the slack in this market. However, some historians argue that serfdom ended after the plague because the labor shortage meant those who survived had much better bargaining power; they could not only renegotiate their existing work situations, but could actually have access to more skilled labor, such as apprenticeships in guilds, which were also devastated in their membership. Both skilled and unskilled workers had access to increased wages, although there was less to buy than at the beginning of the century. Rents were lower as well.