6
H. Schlör et al.
Between 1820 and 1938/1940 (Fig. 2b), the GDP increased rather continuously.
After the Second World War, however, a significant break occurred leading to a
massive increase in economic performance. The GDP increased most strongly in
the Western Offshoots (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA), followed by Latin
America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Africa and Asia. The strong increase
especially for the Western Offshoots and Latin America is rooted mainly in the fact
that in these two regions the start level in year 1 was very low in comparison to
Asia, Africa and Europe. The figure also shows that economic growth after 1700 is
a product of the industrial revolution—initiated by the invention of the steam engine
by James Watt in 1769 and the subsequent rise of fossil energy consumption [70, 71].
Whereas the figures depict the developments of the world populations and of the
GDP for the various world regions, in order to derive a clear picture of the welfare
development over the last 2000 years, we further need to analyse the per capita GDP
growth: the growth of the individual welfare based on the economic development,
as Table 2 shows.
The historical data of Maddison (Table 2) reveals that the world average per capita
GDP in the first millennium decreased slightly from the dawn of the Christian era
to the end of the first millennium. During this period, especially Italy experienced
a dramatic decrease of 45% of its per capita GDP. After the collapse of the Roman
Empire, Maddison detected “a significant decline in per capita income in all the West
European provinces, with the biggest drop in Italy where population fell by a third and
per capita income by nearly half [47].” This general trend was caused by the vanished
Roman Empire and its institutions, and holds for all Western European countries,
although slightly less pronounced than in Italy. Similar developments were found
for Egypt, whereas the development for Africa was less drastic. A slight increase
in per capita GDP during this period was only found for Asia [48]. In Mexico and
Latin America, the per capita GDP remained largely unchanged for most of those
one thousand years, and for the group of the 30 Western European economies the
economic growth (per capita GDP) declined by about 26% until 1000.
Following a series of technological innovations (light bulb, transistor, telegraph,
car, aircraft) [47], the per capita GDP more than doubled until 1820 and tripled from
1820 until 1913 at the eve of World War I (Fig. 3). The decline of the per capita GDP
in Eastern Europe was very moderate until 1000. After the year 1000, the per capita
GDP increased there, also, although strongly than in Western Europe.
The Western Offshoots (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and USA) began to
grow a little later around 1700 [48]. However, their growth rates rose much more
rapidly, outperforming Western Europe, tripling already in 1820. By 1913, the region
had increased its per capita GDP by a factor of 13 compared to the year 1000. The
GDP per capita in Africa decreased by roughly 11% between 1 and 1820, and then
increased slowly until 1913. In Asia, the per capita GDP increased slowly by roughly
50% between 1 and 1913, and economic growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe
began after 1870. However, these regions grew slower than Western Europe and the
Western Offshoots. Economic growth started in the Western Offshoots and in Western
Europe after 1700 due to the starting industrialization and accelerated in the coming
centuries and spread over to the other world regions [44–47].
H. Schlör et al.
Between 1820 and 1938/1940 (Fig. 2b), the GDP increased rather continuously.
After the Second World War, however, a significant break occurred leading to a
massive increase in economic performance. The GDP increased most strongly in
the Western Offshoots (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA), followed by Latin
America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Africa and Asia. The strong increase
especially for the Western Offshoots and Latin America is rooted mainly in the fact
that in these two regions the start level in year 1 was very low in comparison to
Asia, Africa and Europe. The figure also shows that economic growth after 1700 is
a product of the industrial revolution—initiated by the invention of the steam engine
by James Watt in 1769 and the subsequent rise of fossil energy consumption [70, 71].
Whereas the figures depict the developments of the world populations and of the
GDP for the various world regions, in order to derive a clear picture of the welfare
development over the last 2000 years, we further need to analyse the per capita GDP
growth: the growth of the individual welfare based on the economic development,
as Table 2 shows.
The historical data of Maddison (Table 2) reveals that the world average per capita
GDP in the first millennium decreased slightly from the dawn of the Christian era
to the end of the first millennium. During this period, especially Italy experienced
a dramatic decrease of 45% of its per capita GDP. After the collapse of the Roman
Empire, Maddison detected “a significant decline in per capita income in all the West
European provinces, with the biggest drop in Italy where population fell by a third and
per capita income by nearly half [47].” This general trend was caused by the vanished
Roman Empire and its institutions, and holds for all Western European countries,
although slightly less pronounced than in Italy. Similar developments were found
for Egypt, whereas the development for Africa was less drastic. A slight increase
in per capita GDP during this period was only found for Asia [48]. In Mexico and
Latin America, the per capita GDP remained largely unchanged for most of those
one thousand years, and for the group of the 30 Western European economies the
economic growth (per capita GDP) declined by about 26% until 1000.
Following a series of technological innovations (light bulb, transistor, telegraph,
car, aircraft) [47], the per capita GDP more than doubled until 1820 and tripled from
1820 until 1913 at the eve of World War I (Fig. 3). The decline of the per capita GDP
in Eastern Europe was very moderate until 1000. After the year 1000, the per capita
GDP increased there, also, although strongly than in Western Europe.
The Western Offshoots (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and USA) began to
grow a little later around 1700 [48]. However, their growth rates rose much more
rapidly, outperforming Western Europe, tripling already in 1820. By 1913, the region
had increased its per capita GDP by a factor of 13 compared to the year 1000. The
GDP per capita in Africa decreased by roughly 11% between 1 and 1820, and then
increased slowly until 1913. In Asia, the per capita GDP increased slowly by roughly
50% between 1 and 1913, and economic growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe
began after 1870. However, these regions grew slower than Western Europe and the
Western Offshoots. Economic growth started in the Western Offshoots and in Western
Europe after 1700 due to the starting industrialization and accelerated in the coming
centuries and spread over to the other world regions [44–47].