At the risk of distracting from the article itself, that graph is very odd from the perspective of this theory. Apparently wages started dropping in anticipation of a population increase?
After rolling this around in my head for a few minutes (clearly I need my head examined) I wonder if the direct cause of the wage increase was simply people's willingness to accept a job in a fixed location. If you told me today that some deadly disease outbreak was under way in San Francisco, I'd leave town, but I'd be able to keep working. That likely wasn't possible during the Black Death.
After rolling this around in my head for a few minutes (clearly I need my head examined) I wonder if the direct cause of the wage increase was simply people's willingness to accept a job in a fixed location. If you told me today that some deadly disease outbreak was under way in San Francisco, I'd leave town, but I'd be able to keep working. That likely wasn't possible during the Black Death.