View source for Egalitarianism as the Economic Revolution of the 20th Cy



=Discussion=

Willam Waters and Edward O'Boyle, introducing Robert Fogel:

Robert Fogel's "work  deals  with  whole populations becoming better off and with the reduction in the differences between the rich and  poor  [Fogel  1991,  pp.  33-71].  He  believes that egalitarianism (the  movement  to  more equality of economic welfare) is  the  economic  revolution of the twentieth century. Indeed, this is  an  area  of  great  interest for  social  economists.  He  prefaces an  article  with  a  quote from another University of Chicago Nobel Prize winner, T. W. Schultz, that clearly reflects his attitude about the nature of the science of economics. “Most of the people in the world are poor, so if we knew the economics of being poor we would know much of the economics that really matters” [Fogel 1992, p. 243].  There  are  four  measures  of  the  extent  of  the  inequality  that  was  removed.  Three  are biomedical: life expectation, height and body  mass index. (BMI is weight per height).  The fourth is the Gini ratio that tracks changes in income inequality.  Height and BMI are predictors of risk of disease and a short life. For example, Americans experienced better  health  earlier than  Europeans  and  so achieved  modern  heights  by the 1750s. The English reached these heights only after 1825. The reasons that American diets were richer in  protein  than  European diets and population  density  was  lower  and so less disease. All of the four measures show the twentieth century to be a time when the rich and the  poor  in  the  developed  countries  became  considerably  more  equal.  Data  on  income distribution show that while the rich got richer, the poor came closer to them.  Life expectancy began to rise among the poor in the 1790s after the Industrial Revolution in England  but  the  improvement  was  slight  and  there  were  decisive  reversals  up  until  the twentieth  century.  Rapid  increases  in  development  and  income per  capita  were achieved from 1775 to 1875 but there was little overall improvement in health as measured by height, BMI  or  longevity.  Fogel  finds  this  puzzling.  

The  process  of  modernization  was  a  mixed blessing  for  those  who  lived  through  it.  It  brought  such  benefits  as  a  leap  forward  in scientific  knowledge,  remarkable  technological  innovations  in agriculture,  transportation, and marked gains  in  labor  productivity.  Yet, negative aspects tempered  the  benefits.  


The negatives were brought about by: 

(a) rapid urbanization (death rates rose in cities of more than  50,000);  

(b)  increased  mobility,  for  example,  the  spread  of  cholera  in  1849-50  and malaria  following  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States;11  (c)  in  some  places  populations increases  greater  than  the  food  supply;  and  

(d)  more  inequitable  income  distribution. Moreover, there were negative factors responsible for “stunting” children under the age of three:  namely,  infections  of  pregnant  women,  contaminated  food,  opiates  used  to  pacify infants and diets poor in protein.  


There  were  some advances  in  life expectancy  in England,  France,  the United  States  and elsewhere between 1830 and 1900, but they were surprisingly small and there were reversals among  lower  income  people.  The  gains  from  1890  to  1955,  on  the  other  hand,  were remarkable. Chronic  malnutrition  was  almost  eliminated.  There were  advances  in  public health (water purification and disease control), improvement in housing, reduction in toxic substances, such as drugs and leads, and innovations in medical technology.  Some other changes that contributed to the twentieth century revolution was progressive tax programs transferring income from rich to poor. Moreover, an extremely important factor was the subsidization of education. Primary and secondary education was made compulsory and free. In the United States subsidies were extended by the establishment of state and city universities. And then in 1944 came the GI bill financing higher education for eight million American veterans of World War II. 

In a period that has been termed the Golden Age of the American economy salaries of skilled and professionals greatly increased by more that the increases  in  per  capita  income.  An  effect  of  this  subsidization  of  education  was  a  more equitable distribution of income. According to Fogel, for purposes of equity, this strategy of subsidization  of  education  should  be  continued  and  increased.  This is  his  favored  policy recommendation.  There  was  more  of  course.  Public  health  programs  greatly  reduced  homelessness  and beggary.  The  problem  in  Europe  in  the  nineteenth  century  and  before  was  chronic malnutrition. Twenty percent of the population did not have sufficient calories and protein to supply the energy to work. The best that the poorest ten percent could do was stroll a few hours a day begging. With better nutrition came the physical stamina to  do a day’s work.   Moreover,  and  this  was  most  noticeable  in  the  United  States,  private  philanthropy  was encouraged by the tax laws.  There  is  a  religious  variable  in  Fogel’s  analysis  of  the  great  egalitarian  movement.  For centuries  religiosity  influenced policy  in  the  United  States  and  Europe.  


There  were  three Great  Awakenings  in  religiosity  that  impacted  politically  and  socially  according  to  the nature  of  the  specific  revivals:  

(a)  predestination  remained  throughout  the  eighteenth century,  continuing  up  to  the  early  nineteenth,  with  influence  upon  the  American Revolution  and  British  corruption;  

(b)  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  there appeared  an  awakening,  stressing  the  presence  of  saving grace  to  strengthen  one  in  the struggle  against  sin,  that  helped  abolish  slavery  in  the  United  States; and  

(c)  in  the  late eighteenth  and  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  occurred  an  awakening  that influenced policy to eradicate social sin by attacking corrupt big business and the rich. The last, from about 1890 to 1970, is very relevant to Fogel’s thesis that the twentieth century is the  century  of  egalitarianism for  it  helped  the  disadvantaged  by  such  actions  as  opening medical clinics in poor sections of large cities and settlement houses to help the poor find work. The twentieth century movement meant a change in values and attitudes about social programs generally. The established Protestant religions became more socially minded and pushed  for social  economic  intervention of  government.  The  Catholic  Church  joined  the Protestants, in fact, was a leader in the revolution, with social encyclicals beginning in 1891, that called for government support of workers, a full socialization program that continues to this  day  with  a  succession  of  encyclicals  emphasizing  the  dignity  of  the  person  in  the workplace and the right of all to a just wage with a component of savings therein.  Fogel is very much afraid that a new awakening that had its origin in the 1960s will greatly diminish  the  social  fervor that  has  accomplished  so  much  through organized  religion."

(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331354942_Three_Pillars_of_a_Social_Economy)


=More information=

* Fogel, Robert W. (1991). “The Conquest of High Mortality and Hunger in Europe and America: Timing and Mechanisms,” in Favorites of Fortune: Technology, Growth and Economic Development Since the Industrial Revolution, edited by Patrice Higonnet, David S. Landes and Henry Rosovsky, Cambridge MA: Harvard.  

* Fogel, Robert W. (1992). “Second Thoughts on the European Escape from Hunger: Famines, Malnutrition, and Mortality Rates,” in Nutrition and Poverty, by S. R. Osmani, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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