People just about everywhere on earth had low standards of living before the Industrial Revolution, notes Jared Rubin, an economic historian at Chapman University and the co-author of “How the World became Rich” along with Mark Koyama. In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Rubin explores the impact of geography and colonialism on economic growth, the effect that population had on living standards at various times in history, and the importance of institutions and culture in determining the fate of economies.
Can you offer a broad comparison of global living standards before and after the Industrial Revolution ?
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, global living standards were very low just about everywhere on Earth. There were certainly fluctuations (for instance, during the high points of the Roman, Song, and Mughal Empires), but most people historically lived near subsistence. A small fraction of elites lived relatively comfortable lifestyles, but even they did not have access to the medicine, indoor plumbing, electricity, and information that a majority of the world has access to today. This changed in the late-18th and especially 19th centuries. Britain industrialised first, and several other nations in Western Europe and North America followed soon thereafter. It took a couple of generations, but living standards began to rise sharply in the mid-19th century. By the late 19th century, the rate of technological progress was rapid enough to increase the living standards of large parts of the populations that were affected.
