Robert W. Fogel

Time on the cross : the economics of American Negro slavery

This book, originally published in 1974 by Little, Brown and Company, is a sweeping reexamination of the economic foundations of American Negro slavery. Based upon a vast research effort, this volume constitutes an entirely new portrayal of slaverys past. It challenges traditional assumptions about the material condition and management of slaves, their work habits, domestic welfare, and the economy of the antebellum South in general.

A theory of technophysio evolution, with some implications for forecasting population, health care costs, and pension costs

We argue that over the past 300 years human physiology has been undergoing profound environmentally induced changes made possible by numerous advances in technology. These changes, which we call technophysio evolution, increased body size by over 50%, and greatly improved the robustness and capacity of vital organ systems. Because technophysio evolution is still ongoing, it is relevant to forecasts of longevity and morbidity and, therefore, to forecasts of the size of the elderly population and pension and health care costs.

New findings on secular trends in nutrition and mortality: Some implications for population theory

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the evolution of thought on, and knowledge of, the secular decline in mortality; provides new evidence and new analytical techniques that have made it possible to switch attention from famines to chronic malnutrition as the principal link between the food supply and mortality. The chapter also proposes a new theory of the way that the food supply and population were brought into equilibrium between 1700 and the twentieth century; and suggests some implications of the theory for current population issues. The findings discussed in the chapter indicate that the elimination of chronic malnutrition has played an important role in the secular improvement of health and life expectancy. They also suggest that the elimination of stunting and wasting at early ages is of major importance in the reduction of morbidity and mortality rates at middle and late ages. The relevance of these findings for current policy issues may be more obvious for Third World countries than for currently industrialized countries.

New Sources and New Techniques for the Study of Secular Trends in Nutritional Status, Health, Mortality, and the Process of Aging

The aim of this paper is to describe the full dimensions of a new and rapidly growing research program that uses new data sources on food consumption, anthropometric measures, genealogies, and life-cycle histories to shed light on secular trends in nutritional status, health, mortality, and the process of aging. The exploitation of these types of data involves integration of analytical procedures in medicine and economics with those of demography. The discussion is divided into four parts. Part one deals with sources on food consumption and with methods of exploiting these sources that involve the integration of energy cost accounting with techniques for the analysis of income distributions. The second part is concerned with sources of anthropometric information and with techniques that may be utilized to relate such information to the assessment of health and mortality. Part three involves the more complex problem of relating socioeconomic and biomedical stress suffered by individuals early in life to their work levels, health and mortality rates at middle and late ages. The final section discusses the uses of genealogies by themselves and in combination with the preceding data sources.

Secular changes in American and British stature and nutrition.

Secular Changes in American and British Stature and Nutrition This article reports on a collaborative project which is investigating the usefulness of data on height for the analysis of the impact of long-term changes in nutritional status and health on economic, social, and demographic behavior. In this project, measures of height are used for two related purposes. First, mean height at specific ages is used as a measure of the standard of living. When used in this way, data on height supplement other evidence, such as indexes of real wages, estimates of per capita income, and measures of food consumption. One

Health, Nutrition, and Economic Growth*

Today the most remarkable instances of rapid economic growth are in Asian and Latin American countries which together represent more than half of the population of the world. This vast expansion of modern economic growth did not get under way until after World War II but since then has proceeded with lightning speed. These changes first became evident in the improvement in life expectancy. In the case of India for example life expectancy at birth increased from 29 years in 1930 to 60 years in 1990. An increase of that magnitude required two and a half centuries in England and France. The sharp drop in the death rates of developing nations led to an enormous surge in the growth of population which in turn led to widespread fears that the food supply could not keep up with population growth and that industrialization would be thwarted. (excerpt)

The Changing Body: Index

Humans have become much taller and heavier, and experience healthier and longer lives than ever before in human history. However it is only recently that historians, economists, human biologists and demographers have linked the changing size, shape and capability of the human body to economic and demographic change. This fascinating and groundbreaking book presents an accessible introduction to the field of anthropometric history, surveying the causes and consequences of changes in health and mortality, diet and the disease environment in Europe and the United States since 1700. It examines how we define and measure health and nutrition as well as key issues such as whether increased longevity contributes to greater productivity or, instead, imposes burdens on society through the higher costs of healthcare and pensions. The result is a major contribution to economic and social history with important implications for todays developing world and the health trends of the future.

The Changing Body: List of tables

Humans have become much taller and heavier, and experience healthier and longer lives than ever before in human history. However it is only recently that historians, economists, human biologists and demographers have linked the changing size, shape and capability of the human body to economic and demographic change. This fascinating and groundbreaking book presents an accessible introduction to the field of anthropometric history, surveying the causes and consequences of changes in health and mortality, diet and the disease environment in Europe and the United States since 1700. It examines how we define and measure health and nutrition as well as key issues such as whether increased longevity contributes to greater productivity or, instead, imposes burdens on society through the higher costs of healthcare and pensions. The result is a major contribution to economic and social history with important implications for todays developing world and the health trends of the future.

Notes on the Social Saving Controversy

This paper explores a number of the unresolved issues posed by the debate on the social saving of railroads. The final section includes a brief summary of the main findings of the new economic history of transportation.

The Economics of Mortality in North America, 1650–1910: A Description of a Research Project

No abstract is available for this paper.