Living Standards in the Past

Abstract

Abstract The main concern of this book is to determine when the gap in living standards between the East and the West emerged. Why did Europe experience industrialization and modern economic growth before China, India, or Japan? This is one of the most fundamental questions in Economic history and one that has provoked intense debate. The established view, dating back to Adam Smith, is that the gap emerged long before the industrial revolution. How did the standard of living in Europe and Asia compare in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries? This book proposes an answer by considering evidence of three sorts. Firstly, economic, focusing on income, food production, wages and prices; secondly, demographic, comparing heights, life expectancy, and other demographic indicators; and thirdly, a combination of the economic and the demographic, investigating the demographic vulnerability to short-term economic stress.

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