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Wealth, health and the cycle of progress 17
Figure 7 Global economic development, AD 1950–2003
Per capita GDP (1990 Int.$)
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
Western Europe
United States
USSR/Ex-USSR
Latin America
China
India
Japan
Africa
World
0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Source: Maddison (2005a); GGDC&CB (2005)
from 124,000 in 1856 to 69,000 in 1981 (Ausubel & Grübler, 1995).
Because the average Briton lives longer and works fewer hours each
year, the life hours worked by the average British worker has
declined from 50 per cent to 20 per cent of his or her disposable life
hours. In other words, the average person has more disposable time
for leisure, hobbies, and personal development.
Thus, trends in real wages measured in dollars per hour would
show an even more dramatic improvement than the income
growth shown in Figure 7. Between 1820 and 2001 GDP per manhour
for the U.K., U.S., and Japan increased 19-, 28- and 56-fold,
respectively (Maddison, 2005b). However, even these trends substantially
underestimate the true improvements in economic wellbeing
because methods to convert current dollars in one year to
real dollars in another year are not robust when there has been a