... were many and sharp, at each secular peak and at each secular trough population and production (and the capital-labor ratio) were higher than last time. The institutional basis of modern capitalism ... straw, and meat for the capital. Likewise, in the Low Countries,particularly in Flanders, Brabant, and then north Holland, the increasein urban population intensified demand and stimulated gradual ... the huge, backward, and poor periphery of its southern and eastern regions (Poland was a largeexporter of grain) , and only some isolated inland areas, such as in moun-tainous regions, had a...