Macroeconomics 8: Productivity & Getting Lit
Planet Money Summer School
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Economic Growth Isn't All Good
In the 19th century, a day's labor gets you five hours of light. By the time nordhouse does his light study in the 19 nineties, if you work a day, how much light do you get? A maybe 20 thousand, 20 thousand hours. This went on decade after decade, all through the twentieth century. All kinds of things got much cheaper, like light. And as a result, it's about being able to work less, or to buy other stuff. That used to be just for the wealthy. We can buy books, we can take vacations.
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