Economic growth in the Mid-Atlantic region: Conjectural estimates for 1720 to 1800

Abstract

We construct decadal estimates of GDP per capita for the colonies and states of the Mid Atlantic region between 1720 and 1800. They show that the region likely achieved modest improvements in per capita GDP over this period despite a number of demographic factors that tended to slow the pace of growth. Nonetheless the rate of growth we find is below that commonly assumed to have prevailed in eighteenth century North America and calls those estimates into question. The striking feature of the region's economy in the eighteenth century was not rising livingstandards, but its ability to achieve rapid extensive growth without a decline in living standards. To contemporaries this extensive growth and short-term volatility in incomes must have been much more visible than any trend improvement in overall well-being.This work is an outgrowth of a larger research project carried out in collaboration with Peter C. Mancall. We gratefully acknowledge his extensive contributions both to that larger work and to this paper. We have received helpful comments from seminar participants at

The Seeds of Divergence: The Economy of French North America, 1688 to 1760

“…381 Although researchers debate whether or not economic growth was slightly positive or non-existent during the colonial era, no one argues that there was a long-term decline in living standards in colonial America. 382 This is in spite of a considerable increase in population whose levels were many times above those of New France. Sustaining rapid population growth in combination with stable or increasing living standards is suggestive of the view "that the high rate of population growth was also transformed into a high rate of growth of gross domestic product".…”

“…Sustaining rapid population growth in combination with stable or increasing living standards is suggestive of the view "that the high rate of population growth was also transformed into a high rate of growth of gross domestic product". 383 One could argue that population size did not matter given the amount of idle resources.…”

Predation, Seigneurial Tenure, and Development in French Colonial America

“…As population increases, more and more inputs are cheaply made available for intermediate production. 29 The most recent estimates of income per capita growth for the 13 colonies (Lindert and Williamson 2016;Mancall and Weiss 1999;Mancall et al 2003;Rosenbloom and Weiss 2014) and Spanish colonies (Arroyo Abad and Van Zanden 2016) suggest that during the overcoming of the initial challenges of colonization, incomes per capita increased. However, they soon stabilized while population continued to increase.…”