The Importance of the Black Death in the European Economy

There's no underestimating how important the Black Death is to the later development of the European economy. I don't think there's a world in which you have the printing press without the Black Death because that's a labor saving technology. The tools that developed during this period, especially fiscal tools, help states learn to make war for longer and more efficiently. So it's really the foundational event that gives you the early modern economy.