Dear Friends
Our data group has been researching the long-run history of growth and came up with a result that surprised me to some extent, although theoretically it confirms Keynes’ views on the stationary state. It seems that the average growth rate of the industrialised countries has been declining, with only (historically) minor cyclic departures, since the early 1950s. The trend is strong and robust and is confirmed for a variety of measures of growth, and definitions of the industrialised countries.
I am intrigued that this appears to have been overlooked or at least, is not widely known or referred to. So I wonder if in fact, other research has come up with similar results. If anyone knows of such, do get in touch.
The paper is here: https://www.academia.edu/38192121/The_sixty-year_downward_trend_of_economic_growth_in_the_industrialised_countries_of_the_world
Readers may also be interested in the data repository which we are constructing for long-run macroeconomic data: https://github.com/axfreeman/Economic-History. If anyone shares our interest in curating historical macroeconomic data, or has data that they wish to be shared with a wider community, do please get in touch.
Regards
Alan
Research Director
Geopolitical Economy Research Group
University of Manitoba