Beyond GDP: Reassessing Living Standards and Societal Progress Pre-Industrial Revolution

Abstract

From the perspective of GDP, there is a huge difference in the growth rate of people's living standards before and after the Industrial Revolution. However, this does not mean that people's living standards before the Industrial Revolution were stagnant for a long time. This article sets aside GDP and analyzes the development of people's living standards before the Industrial Revolution from other aspects. It is believed that there were many changes before the Industrial Revolution that could not be reflected by GDP, which also promoted the improvement of living standards, And this period of slow growth is an accumulation of rapid future development.