The document discusses how technological progress has reduced the amount of time needed to work to afford 1 hour of reading light over history. In 1800 it took 5.4 hours of work to afford a tallow candle, but by the 1960s it took only 3.6 seconds for a filament bulb. Today an LED bulb requires less than 0.1 seconds of work. The document argues that productivity increases as the output gained from work increases over time due to technological improvements.
Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
Lifting World Out of Poverty OurWorldInData Presentation
1. OurWorldInData.org
October 15th, 2015
WIRED2015 – London
Max Roser – Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School,
University of Oxford.
Lifting the World out of Poverty
OurWorldInData.org
12. OurWorldInData.org
How long do you have to work to afford 1 hour of reading light?
(1,200 lumen hours; 80 watts light bulb)
13. OurWorldInData.org
1800: Tallow candle
5.4 hours
Nordhaus (1997) – ‘Historical Reassessments of Economic Progress’. In ‘The Economics of New Goods’.
How long do you have to work to afford 1 hour of reading light?
(1,000 lumen hours; ±80 watt light bulb for 1 hour )
14. OurWorldInData.org
1880: Kerosene lamp
13 minutes
Nordhaus (1997) – ‘Historical Reassessments of Economic Progress’. In ‘The Economics of New Goods’.
How long do you have to work to afford 1 hour of reading light?
(1,000 lumen hours; ±80 watt light bulb for 1 hour )
15. OurWorldInData.org
1960: Filament bulb
3.6 seconds
Nordhaus (1997) – ‘Historical Reassessments of Economic Progress’. In ‘The Economics of New Goods’.
How long do you have to work to afford 1 hour of reading light?
(1,000 lumen hours; ±80 watt light bulb for 1 hour )
16. OurWorldInData.org
1992: Compact fluorescent bulb
0.4 seconds
Nordhaus (1997) – ‘Historical Reassessments of Economic Progress’. In ‘The Economics of New Goods’.
How long do you have to work to afford 1 hour of reading light?
(1,000 lumen hours; ±80 watt light bulb for 1 hour )
17. OurWorldInData.org
today: LED
less than 0.1 seconds
Nordhaus (1997) – ‘Historical Reassessments of Economic Progress’. In ‘The Economics of New Goods’.
How long do you have to work to afford 1 hour of reading light?
(1,000 lumen hours; ±80 watt light bulb for 1 hour )