09/07/19 In 14th century Europe, the bubonic plague decimated something line ¼ of the entire population. That much suffering is hard to fathom. But it is also interesting to note the economic effects of this fairly sudden change in the population. Because of our current, high population we are accustomed to hearing about minimum wage laws. [L/FP/coercion] After the plague, there were instead maximum wage laws passed—an equally bad idea. There was such a shortage of and demand for any skilled labor that the cost of labor naturally rose. The concern was over wages being too high. Additionally, commodity prices were very low. Relative to the population after the plague, there was an abundance of food stuffs, homes, clothing, farm animals, machinery etc causing prices to become low.
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