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Was Ecomomic Growth Likely in Colonial British North America?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Peter C. Mancall  and
Thomas Weiss
Peter C. Mancall
Affiliation:
Peter C. Mancall is Professor, Department of History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-2113.
Thomas Weiss
Affiliation:
Thomas Weiss is professor, Department of Economics, University of Kansas; Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research; and Executive Director, Economic History Association.
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Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that output per capita in colonial British America increased between 0.3 and 0.6 percent per year. Our conjectural estimates challenge this view, suggesting instead that such growth was unlikely. We show that the most likely rate of economic growth was much lower, probably close to zero. We argue further that to understand the performance of the colonial economy it is necessary to include the economic activity of Native American Indians. When this is done, we estimate that the economy may have grown at the rate suggested by previous researchers.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 59 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 17 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1999

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