03-02-2021, 10:12 AM
The bubonic plague in Medieval Europe is a dramatic example of what can happen economically after a population decline (admittedly far more severe than the demographic issues currently facing the U.S., Japan, and Europe). Afterwards, with the labor pool vastly reduced, peasants enjoyed some of the largest wage/crop price gains of the pre-industrial era. There was a lot of inflation, but the reset of the labor market still resulted in substantial overall gains. There was also a massive increase in debasement of currency at that time (clipping coins, minting of silver vs. gold coinage, etc.).