Hello, i asked hit about a month ago, and got no reply, so decided to ask again.
I have seen many analysis or documentaries about the split of the Roman Empire, as well as the conflicts between the east and the west. Its always stated that the East is where all the money was. Augustus also refrained from further conquering Germania after the initial disaster because it simply was not worth it.
After the collapse of the empire however, we get Francia, Holy Roman Empire, Britain ect emerge is powerhouses with massive economies, populations ect, wile the east seamed unable to compete.
What happened? Why was the east more profitable during the times of the empire, and why/how did that change?
The East seemed unable to compete.
Until the late 12th Century AD, I think it would be very hard to argue that the Western powers you mentioned were more economically affluent and developed than the Byzantine East.
Could you perhaps specify a period of interest? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your question.
The eastern empire had civic infrastructure dating back to the Greek classical era, and was the center of Mediterranean political power during the Hellenistic era. Basically, the economic/infrastructural framework was centuries old (possibly older [see below]) in the east than it was in the west. There were important urban centers established in the west by Phonecian and Greek settlers, but they were far fewer. The Celtic and Iberian peoples of the west had civic centers before Rome but were less well integrated into the Mediterranean-Near East economic system.
Of course, many cities of the east predated classical Greek civilian by millennia, and certain irrigation networks persisted from far earlier times. Egypt in particular retained much structural continuity from two millennia of agriculture and urban life. Egypt and the east had a far larger population base due to traditions of agriculture and urban life that were already ancient by Rome's rise.
You are overestimating the Francia, HRE and Britain. During all of medival time former east rome stayed more productive and thus wealthier.
West europe only really started to distance the other empires in maybe 1500 and only really in 1700. This was because of trade and industrialisation.