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Robert William Fogel

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The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700–2100: Europe, America, and the Third World (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time, Series Number 38)

by Robert William Fogel (Author)

16

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Nobel laureate Robert Fogel's compelling new study examines health, nutrition and technology from 1700 to 2100. Although throughout most of human history, chronic malnutrition has been the norm, a synergy between improvements in productive technology and human physiology has enabled humans to more than double their average longevity and to increase their body size by over fifty percent over the past three centuries. Larger, healthier humans have contributed to the acceleration of economic growth and technological change, resulting in reduced economic inequality, declining hours of work and a corresponding increase in leisure time. Increased longevity has also brought increased demand for health care. Fogel argues that health care should be viewed as the growth industry of the twenty-first century and systems of financing it should be reformed. His book will be essential reading for all interested in economics, demography, history and health care policy. A professor at the University of Chicago, Robert William Fogel has taught at the University of Rochester, Cambridge University, and Harvard University. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his work, including the Arthur C. Cole Prize (1968), the Schumpeter Prize (1971), the Bancroft Prize (1975), the Gustavus Myers Prize (1990), and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science (1993). Previous books include Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery (W.W. Norton & Company, 1994) and The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism (The University of Chicago Press, 2000).

ISBN-10

0521004888
ISBN-13

978-0521004886
Publisher

Cambridge University Press
Publication date

May 17, 2004
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 0.54 x 9 inches
Print length

216 pages
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Robert William Fogel
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"If economic history is to fulfill the promise inherent in its subject matter, it must add the dimension of time to economics. Bob Fogel's pathbreaking study does just that and in doing so not only revises our understanding of the past but provides a thoughtful guide to policy in the future."
Douglas C. North

"In his usual comprehensive and perceptive way, Professor Fogel has assembled and synthesized a vast set of data which bring out the radical transformation of human health and longevity. He has set this work in the context of general economic growth and has shown the inadequacy of the usual measures of growth. He also calls attention to the changes in the economic system implied by the growing importance of health expenditures and their benefits."
Kenneth J. Arrow

" Escape from Hunger is without a doubt one of Fogel's masterworks. Written in an accessible style, it is ideal for use in higher-level undergraduate and graduate courses."
EH.net

"Although this is a "little" book, just 111 pages in the main body, it is densely packed with deep-mine data and illuminating higher-order concepts derived from a lifetime of concentration on economic development. Robert William Fogel's The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100 is that rare species of research - longitudinal study. Unlike the cross-sectional snapshots whose importance often quickly fades, there is gold in these data mines that is so precious because it is so difficult to find and so hard to get to. It is must reading for those in human biology, medicine and the social sciences who are interested in the issues surrounding human adaptation. It will also appeal to life-long learners drawn to the interface between the biology, economics and history of the human condition."
The Midwest Book Review

Book Description

In this study, first published in 2004, Nobel laureate Robert Fogel examines health, nutrition and technology over the last three centuries.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press (May 17, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0521004888
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521004886
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.54 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,640,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #419 in Demography Studies
- #5,661 in History (Books)
- #8,685 in Professional

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4.6 out of 5

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Paul & DJ

Life in the past was much worse than you ever thought

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2009

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The book starts with an examination of living conditions preceding and during the Industrial Revolution, based on data developed in Britain and France in the last few decades that shows life expectancy and mortality for the past three to four centuries. Parallel research also reconstructed estimates of the food available for both countries and some limited data on height of adult males. The data shows that food supply was insufficient and this is also reflected in stunted heights. The problem of hunger was so bad, particularly in France, that people did not get enough calories to do much productive work, and were confined to bed in the winter as a means of conserving calories. People in the US fared better, having adequate nourishment, greatly outliving people in Britain and France.

Though diseases and occasional famines took a toll, chronic malnutrition was a factor in disease susceptibility but chronic malnutrition itself was by far the major factor in mortality. This argument is reinforced with graphs and tables of relative mortality versus height and body mass index.

Times series show a secular decline in mortality beginning around 1750 and continuing until the early 20th Century, although the scatter in the data was also markedly reduced (around the time of industrialization, railroads, steamships and canals) probably due to reduced impact of famines and epidemics.

The books concludes with a discussion of societal effects of the great increase in life expectancy and the problem of health care for the elderly.

After reading this book you will give thanks before every meal!

For a contemporary account see: Friedrich Engles: The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844

As for how we managed to escape from hunger see: Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production by Vaclav Smil

9 people found this helpful

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R. Albin

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2017

A concise and interesting book describing Fogel's distinctive approach to economic history. Fogel and his colleagues used proxy measures of well being, notably height, to assess the general standards of living over the last couple of centuries. Fogel makes a number of interesting points. He describes improved nutrition and a positive interaction between improved nutrition and susceptibility to infectious disease as a major driver of improved human welfare and through improved productivity, improved economic performance. In concert with some other scholars, he emphasizes nutrition and health over the lifespan with antenatal nutrition being particularly important. Fogel's analysis produces some interesting results. Parts of the 19th century often inferred to have rising standards of living probably didn't as shown by static to declining average male heights. Conversely, the Great Depression may have been less impactful than usually assumed as there wasn't a major impact on Fogel's measures, likely because of major public health and other measures in preceding decades. The later part of the book deals with some of Fogel's projections of the future, including some predictions about rising life expectancy and how to deal with aging populations. I suspect that Fogel would have been surprised and disappointed by the stagnant and in come cases falling life expectancy in some sectors of the US.

2 people found this helpful

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Wilfrid Nixon

A Meaty Discussion of Hunger

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2008

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I got this book as a recommendation [...] and it was a lot more interesting and useful than I had any right to expect. Very well researched study that considers how populations have changed over time and why. If you are worried at all about population growth and the like, you must read this book.

3 people found this helpful

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Ins Recherche Clinique

Every on should read this fantastic work of Fogel!

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2013

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You cannot imagine what is the west if you don't read this book! Our history was a matter of survival until recently and the civilization of wealth.

3 people found this helpful

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Mia

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2016

Thank you!

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015

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Although it is very thorough, the graphs are sometimes a bit confusing

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Dr. Gabriella Kadar

A Book that Stays with Me

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2008

This is the first book written by an economist that I have ever read. I always had a rather stereotyped preconceived notion that books by economists are either incomprehensible or sleep inducing or both.

Quelle Suprise! and Lucky lucky me! Professor Fogel has impressed the hell out of me.

Not only is this book a masterpiece of scholarship but it is absolutely rivetting. I could not put it down! There isn't a day that goes by when something learned from this book comes up through connections I make in regards to other subjects I learn or read about.

For example, the New York Times had an article before Christmas about 18th and 19th century French peasants spending their winter months in bed, sleeping as much as possible, only getting up to feed and water their animals. I remembered from Prof. Fogel's book that the French peasants never had enough to eat to grow to optimum body height and build. Of course they'd spend the coldest months 'hibernating'. They needed to save whatever food they had on basic survival.

I could go on and on but prefer to write a review and not rewrite the book.

I know it's a big concept and a big word, but for me this is a seminal work. Thanks Professor Fogel.

8 people found this helpful

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Client d'Amazon

Excellent livre

Reviewed in France on February 12, 2020

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Excellent livre

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