Fixing Spain's economy 17-18th Century

Is anyone familiar with the Hamilton Thesis? I think it deals more with Spain's decline then economic issues, although the economy has a large part to do with it.

ED: I believe it cited agricultural development issues, bad representative taxation, the silver influx, and very poor leadership (thus the many wars). Basically what was said here, just in a more scholarly manner.
 
So two ideas:

- Slavery: Would importing bigger numbers of slaves from West Africa (instead of just the ~500,000 which were imported to Iberia during 1460-1660 period) alleviate the problem?

- Potatoes: I know it sounds dumb, but apparently potatoes grow really well on soil which isn't good for much else. In the case of Castille which turned into a desert with the grazing of the Mesta's merino flocks, and other areas which turned to desert because of lack of cultivation. I know potatoe cultivation played an important role in Irish history, maybe in an ATL it could help Spain too?
 
I don't know much about potatoes, but I don't think the kind of bad conditions the overgrazing caused are the ones they like, but it's probably worth a shot - if you can convince people to try.
 
I don't know much about potatoes, but I don't think the kind of bad conditions the overgrazing caused are the ones they like, but it's probably worth a shot - if you can convince people to try.

This is going to be the big thing in Spain, Potato cultivation certainly took a while to catch on in OTL in other areas. However in your TL with the government confiscating land and bringing in slaves to farm it(altering the demographics of Spain I'll bet), they could very well bring in Potatoes. However THEN they'll have to convince the Spanish to eat the things...something easier said than done.

Again it'll help but Spain's pretty far gone by the late 17th century...
 
they could very well bring in Potatoes. However THEN they'll have to convince the Spanish to eat the things...something easier said than done.
They could try doing what the French government did when their peasants were unwilling to try cultivating & eating this new crop: Declare that henceforth eating potatoes is a privilege reserved for the nobility (and for at least the higher-ranking members of the Church?), and then place stocks of seed potatoes around the country under armed guard but only do so in faulty enclosures whose guards have actually been ordered not to "notice" people sneaking in behind their backs to steal the spuds... :D
 
They could try doing what the French government did when their peasants were unwilling to try cultivating & eating this new crop: Declare that henceforth eating potatoes is a privilege reserved for the nobility (and for at least the higher-ranking members of the Church?), and then place stocks of seed potatoes around the country under armed guard but only do so in faulty enclosures whose guards have actually been ordered not to "notice" people sneaking in behind their backs to steal the spuds... :D

Hahah! Is this for real?
 
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