The following estimates of per capita income of the world was made by Angus Maddison (Emeritus Professor, University of Groningen, 1999) in his article "Poor until 1820." After the fall of the Roman Empire, the West entered a recession that lasted about a millennium. During this period, per capita income of the West was no more than $500 (say in 2000 constant dollar). After the industrial revolution, due to mass production, per capita income began to grow. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
January 11, 1999 Angus Maddison (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roman villa in the first century AD, Ercolano, Italy |
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Roman Forum + market |
Map of Pompeii (wiki): Forum with adjacent buildings |
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GDP per capita in 1990 International dollars |
Western Europe began to surpass China from 1400 AD during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). |
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Population in italics in millions |
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*NOTE: These estimates draw on material for 1500-1995 in A. Maddison, "Monitoring the World Economy" (1995) and "Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run" (1998), published by the OECD Develop-ment Center, Paris. The time series for GDP were merged with estimates of 1990 GDP derived by use of purchasing power conversions rather than exchange rates and called here "international dollars." The tentative estimates for years before 1500 were specially prepared for this article. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||