Says this fascinating paper:
Coffee, consumer choice, and the consequences of Columbus
Jonathan Hersh Hans-Joachim Voth
3 September 2009
"There is a broad consensus that living standards stagnated for millennia before the Industrial Revolution. This column attributes that conclusion to a measurement error in real wage indices. The introduction of new goods such as coffee, sugar, and tea to England in the 1700s and 1800s dramatically raised living standards – perhaps more than 15%."
4 comments:
Where would crude oil rank?
Economists are brilliant! All that mathematical stuff to show us that rotten teeth, bowel cancer and cardiac arrest are nation building marvels.
The only discernible merit of tea and coffee is that you boil water to consume it.
It really seems that they are arguing for some intrinsic merit in specific products rather than economic stimulus through generic trade.
Unlurking for two comments: first on period last time I looked the conventional histories have the industrial revolution happening in the 18th and 19th centuries. Second the production of things like coffee and sugar were based on slavery and land theft so might not be ‘new wealth’ but redistributed wealth
Mmmm..
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