On Remembering Where We Came From and How Far We've Come
Economic growth around the world is indeed
slower than it has been in the industrialized world in
decades, and it is for that reason that we’ve included the
chart at the bottom left of p.1 that is a favorite of Dr.
Kocherlakota, the former President of the Federal
Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. We may indeed be in for
decades of slow growth…. In the 1-3% range and far
below the robust 5-7% growth so many of us had become
accustomed to for so long.
But it is also worth remembering just how far we’ve come economically, especially here in the US. For example, in 8 1940, 33% of all homes here in the US cooked via wood or coal; 20% did not yet have electricity; 30% did not have running water; 40% did not have an indoor toilet; 44% did not have either a shower or a free standing tub and 58% did not have central heating. Now, effectively 99% of all homes have all of these creature comforts.
Or let’s consider something as taken-for-granted as infant mortality. According to Robert Gordon, the Stanley G. Harris Professor of Social Sciences at Northwestern University in his amazing book The Rise and Fall of American Growth, in 1880 there were approximately 215 infant deaths at birth or in the first year of life for each 1000 births, a sum not much changed from the Tudor Period in England several hundred years earlier. However, by 1900 that had fallen by half to 110 deaths. By 1940 it had fallen to about 40. By 1980 it was down to less than 15 and now it hovers barely above 2. What amazing progress is that!
So, despite the recent slower growth, we have indeed come a very, very long way…. Something that is all too often forgotten and something we need always to be reminded of.
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But it is also worth remembering just how far we’ve come economically, especially here in the US. For example, in 8 1940, 33% of all homes here in the US cooked via wood or coal; 20% did not yet have electricity; 30% did not have running water; 40% did not have an indoor toilet; 44% did not have either a shower or a free standing tub and 58% did not have central heating. Now, effectively 99% of all homes have all of these creature comforts.
Or let’s consider something as taken-for-granted as infant mortality. According to Robert Gordon, the Stanley G. Harris Professor of Social Sciences at Northwestern University in his amazing book The Rise and Fall of American Growth, in 1880 there were approximately 215 infant deaths at birth or in the first year of life for each 1000 births, a sum not much changed from the Tudor Period in England several hundred years earlier. However, by 1900 that had fallen by half to 110 deaths. By 1940 it had fallen to about 40. By 1980 it was down to less than 15 and now it hovers barely above 2. What amazing progress is that!
So, despite the recent slower growth, we have indeed come a very, very long way…. Something that is all too often forgotten and something we need always to be reminded of.
Visit www.thegartmanletter.com for a free 14 day trial of our newsletter!
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