www.astralcodexten.com/p/contra-pritchard-on-liberal-happiness
1 correction found
about ~225 times higher than in 1 CE, and about the same (225 times) higher than Europe in 1000 CE.
Those multipliers are too high. Using Maddison-compatible historical GDP-per-capita figures, current U.S. output per person is roughly 78× the world in 1 CE and about 87× Western Europe in 1000 CE, not ~225×.
Full reasoning
The historical and current figures cited here are not consistent with standard Maddison-style GDP-per-capita data.
Using comparable 2011 international-dollar estimates:
- Our World in Data's Maddison-based series gives the United States at $58.49k per person in 2022.
- The official Dasgupta Review's historical table gives World GDP per capita at 747 in 1 CE and Western Europe at 676 in 1000 CE.
That implies:
- 58,490 / 747 ≈ 78.3× for "today vs. 1 CE"
- 58,490 / 676 ≈ 86.5× for "today vs. Europe in 1000 CE"
Those are nowhere close to ~225×.
Even if you instead use Our World in Data's newer World Bank-based figure for the U.S. in 2024 ($75,489 in 2021 international dollars), the multipliers are still only about 101× and 112× against those historical benchmarks — still far below 225×.
So the specific "~225 times" and "same (225 times) higher than Europe in 1000 CE" claims are overstated by roughly a factor of two to three.
2 sources
- GDP per capita, 2022
Data source: Bolt and van Zanden – Maddison Project Database 2023 ... Note: This data is expressed in international-$ at 2011 prices. ... United States $58.49k
- The Economics (Dasgupta Review PDF)
Table 0.1 Deep History, 1 — GDP Per Capita (2011 International Dollars) ... <td>World</td><td>747</td><td>723</td> ... <td>Western Europe*</td><td>914</td><td>676</td><td>1,232</td>