Broadberry, Stephen, Wallis, John Joseph, (2017) “Growing, shrinking, and long-run economic performance”, VoxEU, 5 July
Most analysis of long-run economic performance abstracts from short-run fluctuations and seeks to explain improved performance through an increase in the rate of growth. Using data on annual rates of change of per capita income reaching back to the 13th century for some countries, this column show that improved long-run performance has actually occurred primarily through a decline in the rate and frequency of shrinking. Structural change, technological change, demographic change and the changing incidence of warfare offer at best a partial explanation; a full understanding requires a consideration of institutional change.
Relevant Posts
- Rothstein, Bo, (2017), «Immigration And Economic Growth: Is Keynes Back?», Social Europe, 20 June
- Fournier, Jean-Marc, (2016), «The positive effect of public investment on potential growth», OECD Economics Department Working Paper No. 1347, 22 November
