ABSTRACT
One of the keys to resolving the differences is to explore the rapid rise in the population of England and Wales that had been under way since the early sixteenth century and how the economy responded to it. It is difficult to avoid a general pessimistic conclusion about the performance of the English economy before 1650, since most of the economic improvements were more important for the future than they were for early Stuart England. For a long time historians have been divided about the state of the early Stuart economy. A growing population, it is assumed, could be the source of more and cheaper labour, as well as the basis of an expanding market. One of the difficulties in answering that question with any certainty is that a case can be made for both an 'optimistic' and a 'pessimistic' conclusion.
