The 2% per year income and productivity growth since the second Industrial Revolution is unprecedented, contributing to the increase in working-class real wages.
From 1870 to 1913, there was a 1.3% per year average world real income growth, along with significant population growth, indicating the substantial progress made in the late 19th century.
Deep dives
The Expansion of Working-Class Real Wages
The 2% per year income and productivity growth since the second Industrial Revolution is unprecedented. This growth is what has led to the increase in working-class real wages that we have come to expect.
Global Real Income Growth and Technological Advancement
From 1870 to 1913, there was a 1.3% per year average world real income growth, along with significant population growth. Taking into account population growth, the global rate of increase of quote technology, unquote, was about 1.7% per year during this period, four times the rate before 1870.
The Differences in Growth Rates
While the late 19th century saw significant progress and the rise of modern consumer societies, the growth rates during that period were not as high as in the late 20th century. The differences can be attributed to factors such as the availability of resources, technological advancements, and the focus on pushing engineering forward.
The Impact of Technological Progress
The modern world has seen a continuous and rapid advancement in technology. This progress has transformed living standards and society in various aspects, from infant mortality rates and nutrition to the development of new modes of production and economic revolutions. However, as our needs become less biologically urgent, the impact of technological progress may feel less significant.
Brad DeLong, professor of economics at UC Berkley, OG econ blogger, and Tyler’s Harvard classmate, joins the show to discuss Slouching Towards Utopia, an economic history of the 20th century that’s been nearly thirty years in the making.
Tyler and Brad discuss what can really be gleaned from the fragmentary economics statistics of the late 19th century, the remarkable changes that occurred from 1870-1920, the astonishing flourishing of German universities in the 19th century, why investment banking allowed America and Germany to pull ahead of Britain economically, what enabled the Royal Society to become a force for progress, what Keynes got wrong, what Hayek got right, whether the middle-income trap persists, his favorite movie and novel, blogging vs. Substack, the Slouching Towards Utopia director’s cut, and much more.