EH.Net Abstracts in Economic History

                ABSTRACTS IN ECONOMIC HISTORY
                     (c) 2001 EH.Net
-----------------------------------------------------------

Name:  Peter H. Lindert
Email:  phlindert at ucdavis.edu
Institution:  University of California - Davis

Co-author:  Philip T. Hoffman (California Institute of Technology), 
David Jacks (University of California - Davis), and Patricia A. Levin 
(University of California - Davis)

Title:  Prices and Real Inequality in Europe since 1500

Internet Address of abstracted work: http://aghistory.ucdavis.edu

By mail:
Agricultural History Center
University of California - Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis CA 95616 USA

Language:  English

Abstract:
Introducing a concept of real, as opposed to nominal, inequality of 
income or wealth suggests some historical reinterpretations, 
buttressed by a closer look at consumption by the rich. The 
purchasing powers of different income classes depend on how relative 
prices move. The influence of relative prices on real inequality was 
greater in the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries than in the 
twentieth. Between 1500 and about 1800, staple food and fuels became 
dearer, while luxury goods, especially servants, became cheaper, 
greatly widening the inequality of lifestyles. Peace, 
industrialization, and globalization reversed this inegalitarian 
price effect in the nineteenth century.

Bibliography: Lindert, Peter H., Philip T. Hoffman, David Jacks, and 
Patricia A. Levin. "Prices and Real Inequality in Europe since 1500." 
University of California - Davis, Agricultural History Center, 
Working Paper No. 102 (October 2000).

Subject:  Q
Geographical Area:  4
Country/Region:
Time Period:  0

-------------------------------------------------------
Visit the library of Abstracts in Economic History or submit your 
abstract at: http://www.eh.net/AEH