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Growth and Ideas (2004)
| Venue: | In Handbook of Economic Growth, (eds) Philippe Aghion and Steven N. Durlauf, Vol.1B |
| Citations: | 82 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@INPROCEEDINGS{Jones04growthand,
author = {Charles I. Jones},
title = {Growth and Ideas},
booktitle = {In Handbook of Economic Growth, (eds) Philippe Aghion and Steven N. Durlauf, Vol.1B},
year = {2004},
pages = {1063--1114},
publisher = {Elsevier}
}
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION People in countries like the United States are richer by a factor of about 10 or 20 than people a century or two ago. Whereas U.S. per capita income today is $33,000, conventional estimates put it at $1800 in 1850. Yet even this difference likely understates the enormous increase in standards of living over this period. Consider the quality of life of the typical American in the year 1850. Life expectancy at birth was a scant 40 years, just over half of what it is today. Refrigeration, electric lights, telephones, antibiotics, automobiles, skyscrapers, and air conditioning did not exist, much less * This is a draft of a chapter for the Handbook of Economic Growth. I am grateful to Philippe Aghion and Paul Romer for helpful comments, and to the National Science Foundation for research support. the more sophisticated technologies that impact our lives daily in the 21st century. Perhaps the central question of the literature on economic growth is "Why is there growth at
Keyphrases
economic growth typical american conventional estimate sophisticated technology whereas u.s. paul romer 21st century central question philippe aghion united state caput income today national science foundation helpful comment electric light research support air conditioning introduction people enormous increase
