For the average nation in Europe in EU4, you will be at your poorest right at the beginning of the game. As the game goes on your nation and Europe as a whole will continue to get wealthier in an almost linear fashion. In the 17th century, for example, you will be much wealthier than you were in the 15th and start of the 16th. However, this was not the case in real life. In reality, the Little Ice Age wreaked havoc on the heavily agricultural economies of Europe during the 17th century. One of the causes of the English Civil War, for example, was the economic downturn that was caused by the change in the climate. The North of Wngland was particularly affected, to the point that some historians say that agriculture became "marginal" during this time period. Most Englishmen were significantly worse of than they had been 100 years ago.

To be clear, I love this game. I understand that it is very difficult to accurately model history and it's progression. However, it would be nice if the game didn't completely ignore this very significant historical reality. Europe as a whole should not be raking in the dough at a time when people were barely scrapping by in reality