Question

How did the Black Death change the European economy?

by depleting the continent’s wealth and turning most people back to subsistence farming



by creating a labor shortage that pushed the continent toward a market economy



by damaging crops and making the continent dependent on imported food and textiles



by shutting down trade routes and isolating the continent

Answer 1

Your Answer:

by creating a labor shortage that pushed the continent toward a market economy

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Answer 2

The Black Death changed the European economy by creating a labor shortage that pushed the continent toward a market economy.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the period leading up to the epidemic, Europe had experienced unprecedented population growth, until it reached the saturation point, unemployment was consequently high, and the landlords were in a favorable position as they could determine the peasants' wages and working conditions as they saw fit. But as the black death removed a huge portion of the population (approximately 50% of European population at the time), the economic conditions of the time changed completely. There was a marked shortage of labor and grain prices coincided with demand.

This generated a gradual economic recovery based on urban centers, since these were the only places that could provide jobs for the impoverished rural inhabitants. This situation of gradual urbanization was the prelude of the later industrial revolution and European mercantilism.