Do you know how mainstream the Hyperbolic Growth Hypothesis is? I was under the impression that the popular theory is that standards of living before the Industrial Revolution were Malthusian, with GDP chronically hovering near subsistence levels. But this is not my field of expertise.
I should have been clearer in the summary: the hypothesis refers to the growth rate of total economic output (GDP) rather than output-per-person (GDP per capita). Output-per-person is typically thought to have been pretty stagnant until roughly the Industrial Revolution, although just how stagnant it was is controversial. Total output definitely did grow substantially, though.
What l’m calling the Hyperbolic Growth Hypothesis is at least pretty mainstream. Michael Kremer’s paper is pretty classic (it’s been cited about 2000 times) and some growth theory textbooks repeat its main claim. Although I don’t have a great sense of exactly how widely accepted it is.
Do you know how mainstream the Hyperbolic Growth Hypothesis is? I was under the impression that the popular theory is that standards of living before the Industrial Revolution were Malthusian, with GDP chronically hovering near subsistence levels. But this is not my field of expertise.
I should have been clearer in the summary: the hypothesis refers to the growth rate of total economic output (GDP) rather than output-per-person (GDP per capita). Output-per-person is typically thought to have been pretty stagnant until roughly the Industrial Revolution, although just how stagnant it was is controversial. Total output definitely did grow substantially, though.
What l’m calling the Hyperbolic Growth Hypothesis is at least pretty mainstream. Michael Kremer’s paper is pretty classic (it’s been cited about 2000 times) and some growth theory textbooks repeat its main claim. Although I don’t have a great sense of exactly how widely accepted it is.