Pre-Independence Spanish Americans - e-Archivo

PRE-INDEPENDENCE SPANISH AMERICANSPOOR SHORT AND UNEQUALhellip OR THEOPPOSITE

RAFAEL DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZUniversidad Complutense de Madrida

In memoriam GONZALO ANESb

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to establish a debate between alternative views ofliving standards in Spanish America during the viceregal period Since 2009a growing literature has shared a laquocommon languageraquo based on a similarthough not identical methodology As never before this laquonew generationraquo ofstudies is built upon long series of quantitative data and internationalcomparisons of nominal wages and prices which in some cases cover the

Received 15 June 2014 Accepted 30 September 2014 The research from which this paperdraws has been financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (ECON2008-01989ECON and ECO2011-26286) and a Tinker Professorship held by the author at the Columbia Uni-versity in 2010 I appreciate comments and criticisms made by the participants at various con-ferences and seminars Mini-Conference A Comparative Approach to Inequality and DevelopmentLatin America and Europe (Madrid May 2009) Session E5 (laquoLatin America EconomicBackwardness Revisited New Empirical Contributionsraquo) of the XVth World Economic HistoryCongress (Utrecht 2009) panel on Anthropometry and Health of the Economic History AssociationMeeting (Tucson AZ 2009) conference New Frontiers in Latin America Economic History (NewYork 2010) Session 6 (laquoThe Origins and Trends of Latin American Inequalityraquo) and Session 21(laquoPrecios salarios desigualdad y nivel de vida en Ameacuterica Latina 1700-1850raquo) of the CongressCLADHE-IIAMHE-IV (Mexico D F 2010) Session 2 (laquoCrecimiento econoacutemico y niveles de vidaraquo)of the Congress Primeras Jornadas de Historia Econoacutemica de la Asociacioacuten Mexicana de HistoriaEconoacutemica (Mexico D F 2012) Special gratitude is acknowledged to Blanca Saacutenchez-AlonsoElena Martiacutenez-Ruiz Andreacutes Calderoacuten and Manuel Gonzaacutelez-Mariscal A close and long-runningcollaboration with Heacutector Garciacutea-Montero has been indispensable The usual disclaimer applies

a Departamento de Historia e Instituciones Econoacutemicas II Universidad Complutense deMadrid Pozuelo de Alarcoacuten Spain rdobadocceeucmes

b

Gonzalo Anes who recently passed away was one of the founding fathers of contemporaryEconomic History Studies in Spain He was the first Head of the Department of Economic Historyof the Universidad Complutense (Madrid) and Director of the Real Academia de la Historia amongother distinguished positions Without his support and encouragement many Spanish economichistorians would not have been active in this profession

Revista de Historia Economica Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic HistoryVol 33 No 1 15ndash59 doi101017S0212610914000135 copy Instituto Figuerola Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2015

15

whole Early Modern Era Part of this literature also complements theexamination of economic welfare using height as an indicator of bio-logical welfare Inequality is also quantitatively approached in one of theworks discussed In spite of significant similarities some methodologicaldifferences lead to contrasting results For the sake of simplicity the relevantliterature is divided into two views laquopessimismraquo and laquooptimismraquo It is mycontention that the latter is more consistent with the available evidence

Keywords living standards real wages Latin America Early ModernEra

JEL Code N3 N36

RESUMEN

Este artiacuteculo intenta establecer un debate entre visiones distintas acerca delos niveles de vida en la Ameacuterica espantildeola del periacuteodo virreinal Desde 2009 unnuacutemero creciente de trabajos comparte un ldquolenguaje comuacutenrdquo basado en unametodologiacutea similar aunque no ideacutentica Como nunca antes esta ldquonuevageneracioacutenrdquo de estudios se apoya en series largas de datos cuantitativos ycomparaciones internacionales de precios y salarios nominales que en algunoscasos se extienden a lo largo de toda la Edad Moderna Algunos deestos trabajos complementan el examen del bienestar econoacutemico mediante eluso de estaturas como indicador del bienestar bioloacutegico La desigualdad esestudiada cuantitativamente en uno de los trabajos aquiacute considerados A pesarde semejanzas importantes ciertas diferencias metodoloacutegicas se traducenen resultados dispares Simplificando la literatura maacutes relevante puede serdividida en dos visiones ldquopesimismordquo y ldquooptimismordquo A mi juicio la segunda esmaacutes consistente con los datos disponibles

Palabras clave niveles de vida salarios reales Ameacuterica Latina EdadModerna

1 INTRODUCTION

Living standards in pre-independent Spanish America have recentlyattracted more scholarly interest than ever before Since 2009 a growingliterature dealing with this topic has been made available in differentformatsmdash contributions to seminars and conferences working papers journalarticles and book chapters mdash to the international academic community ofeconomic historians (Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero 2009 2010 2014Dobado-Gonzaacutelez 2010 Dobado and Marrero 2011 Allen et al 2011 2012

RAFAEL DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ

16 Revista de Historia Economica Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History

Arroyo-Abad et al 2011 2012 Arroyo-Abad 2014 Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato2014) These studies share somemethodological features a long-run perspectivean approach which is basically quantitative and international comparativeness1Sources which are rather scarce and so far mainly secondary do not differsubstantially However at the same time differences between the methodsmaynot be insignificant Therefore not surprisingly the results obtained and theirimplications for the assessment of Spanish American economic history overthe last five centuries are also dissimilar in some non-trivial respects In somecases new alternative explanatory hypotheses for the results are proposed inothers the authorsrsquo aim is essentially empirical although some speculativeinferences are suggested

Several reasons explain why this laquonew generationraquo of work on thematerial conditions of life prevailing in pre-independent Spanish Americahas come into existence and hopefully will be continued by further andmuch-needed research First the intellectually ambitious and fruitfulresearch conducted by some scholars and research groups has returned realwages to a central place in economic history In particular methodologicalcontributions made by Robert C Allen mdash consumption baskets and welfareratios mdash and Jan Luiten van Zanden mdash a laquosecond generationraquo of consumerprice indices mdash have played an important role in the revival of a subject thathas had if discontinuously a noteworthy presence in economic history sincethe 19th century As for Spanish America recent research has been facilitatedby the existence of a previous specialised bibliography2 and free access toglobal data bases on prices and wages3 In the second place the challengeposed to conventional wisdom by the debate on the timing and causes of theGreat Divergence initiated by Pomeranz (2000) has also favoured thewidening of the geographical scope in the study of pre-industrial livingstandards to include some non-European countries (China India and Japan)

1 These basic similarities were not present in the literature published before 2009 The use of alaquocommon languageraquo is then the criterion chosen for taking 2009 as the starting point of this reviewHowever a tradition of quantitative studies on prices and wages existed long before that year mdash seethe next footnote In fact those previous studies have supplied the bulk of the data upon which post-2009 research is based

2 Albeit not very large it provides useful information and insights on prices and wages vonHumboldt (18221990) Borah and Cook (1958) Carmagnani (1963) Gibson (1967) Pardo (1972)van Young (1981 1992) de Ramoacuten and Larraiacuten (1982) Stern (1982) Brading (1978 1983)Tandeter and Wachtel (1992) Bakewell (1989) Florescano (1986) Velasco (1989) Johnson (19901992 1997) Brown (1992) Johnson and Tandeter (1992) Ladd (1992) Macera (1992) Tandeter(1992) Garner (1993) Espinosa (1995) Garciacutea-Montero Acosta (1995) Barba (1999) Monteiro(2006) Calderoacuten (2009) Challuacute (2009 2010) Quiroz (2005 2009) and Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato(2014) Probably other authors also deserve unreceived credit

3 In this respect the International Institute of Social History (httpwwwiisgnlhpw) and theGlobal Price and Income History Group (httpgpihucdavisedu) deserve special recognitionRafael Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Heacutector Garciacutea-Montero are particularly grateful to Robert Allen andLeticia Arroyo-Abad for their intellectual generosity making their data bases on international wagesand prices accessible

PRE-INDEPENDENCE SPANISH AMERICANS

Revista de Historia Economica Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 17

(Allen et al 2005 Bassino and Ma 2006 Broadberry and Gupta 2006 Allenet al 2011a Bassino et al 2011)

Curiously enough until 2009 Spanish America was absent from theexpanding picture that this new scholarship was drawing This was extre-mely surprising and especially so in the light of the considerable influenceexerted on economists and economic historians by the laquoneo-institutionalschoolraquo as it takes Spanish America as its main case study of their hypothesesand propositions (Engerman and Sokoloff 1994 2002 2005 2012 Acemogluet al 2002) From an international comparative approach living standards ofthe commoners may be the appropriate test of the allegedly laquoextractiveraquo andlaquounequalraquo character of the institutions that would epitomise the Spanishcolonial legacy in America In fact inequality despite some reduction in thelast years (Lustig et al 2013) is one of the main characteristics of con-temporary Spanish American societies Inequality has been defined in terms ofthe real wages of unskilled workers (the laquoWilliamson Indexraquo) and studiedfor the post-independence period by Williamson (1999 2002) and Pradosde la Escosura (2007) The laquoreversal of fortuneraquo (Acemoglu et al 2002) mightalso be tested through the comparison between pre-Columbian and post-Columbian living standards

Since 2009 the sharing of a laquocommon languageraquo among scholars fromdifferent cultural backgrounds and fields of expertise has made possiblea potentially fruitful scholarly dialogue between alternative views Thisdialogue not without some simplification may be described through thedichotomy laquooptimismraquo-laquopessimismraquo a long-established one in our profes-sion The laquooptimisticraquo view of the living conditions of Spanish Americansbefore independence finds that they were comparable to those prevailing inEurope mdash including north-western Europe mdash and higher than in Asia Incontrast the laquopessimistsraquo claim that living conditions were much poorerparticularly if compared with British North America and north-westernEurope laquoOptimismraquo is at odds with neo-institutionalism as relatively goodliving conditions do not fit the notions of laquoextractiveraquo institutions (Acemogluet al 2002) and extreme inequality (Engerman and Sokoloff 2005) Onthe contrary laquopessimismraquo is fully consistent with neo-institutionalismBoth laquopessimisticraquo and laquooptimisticraquo views of living standards during theEarly Modern Era will be discussed herein My view shared with HeacutectorGarciacutea-Montero is the pioneer among post-2009 laquooptimistsraquo

Spanish America was a leading character in the process of globalisationof the Early Modern Era Some peculiar institutions (encomienda mita andrepartimiento) of mixed origin (aboriginal and Spanish) were initially influ-ential at allocating coerced labour (which was more often than not also paidlabour) for the production of some of the goods that started to circulate allover the world (ie silver) Slavery was not unknown in pre-ColumbianAmerica However after 1492 it reached unprecedented importance in someterritories of the Caribbean Basin that were increasingly integrated in the



emerging global economy through the supply of laquonew goodsraquo such as sugarHowever the laquoplantation modelraquo established in some British and Frenchcolonies in America never reached a similar omnipresence in the territoriesof the Hispanic Monarchy (see Klein 2007) Slavery always coexisted withother productive forms of using labour (small- and middle-sized farms freeworkers of different types etc) (see Johnson 1997 Monteiro 2006) In anycase regarding labour it has generally been overlooked that the maininstitutional innovation in Spanish America was the early creation ofa previously non-existent free market for this factor of production aninstitution laquoof private propertyraquo in the terminology of Acemoglu et al (2002)Extractive institutions have attracted most scholarly attention and haveoften been mistakenly considered the ultimate Spanish laquocolonial legacyraquoHowever free labour spread across Spanish America soon after the conquest(Saacutenchez Albornoz 2006) Therefore contrary to conventional wisdom itshould probably be considered the main institutional Spanish legacyFree labour became increasingly important in fields towns and mines andwas probably dominant in the whole economy by 1800 as a result of thesubstitution of bondage by wages Studying wages and living standardsproves instrumental for assessing the economy of viceregal America and itsinfluence on the developments of the post-independence period

Although further research is very much needed available evidencesuggests that (a) Spanish America rather than Western Europe (eg theNetherlands United Kingdom etc) might have been the place where someof the new consumption patterns appeared for the first time the so-calledlaquoconsumer revolutionraquo of the Early Modern Era (sugar tobacco cocoaoriental manufactures etc) and (b) these goods were progressively acces-sible to wider sections of the population at least in some territories suchas New Spain (Dobado-Gonzaacutelez 2014)4 The early diffusion throughoutSpanish America of goods unknown or uncommon in Europe was madepossible by the combined effects of the Columbus Exchange (eg sugar) andthe Manila Galleon (eg Asian textiles) The study of real wages is importantfor understanding the laquoconsumer revolutionraquo as pointed out by Allen (2001)Thus conversely any study of living standards in this part of the world needsto take into account mdash which is not always the case mdash that some laquoexoticraquoitems (ie sugar cocoa and tobacco) were frequently consumed by increas-ing segments of the population from the beginning of the Early ModernEra Moreover other particularities of the consumption patterns in SpanishAmerica deserve consideration in contrast to other parts of the world asurprising ease of access even if unevenly distributed spatially to animal

4 laquoCreo que dentro de Nueva Espantildea y sobre todo en la segunda mitas del siglo XVIII elcomercio transpaciacutefico modificoacute el caraacutecter de sus cargamentos de artiacuteculos suntuarios y textilesmuy lujosos y caros a textiles baratos y artiacuteculos de uso corriente en la colonia lo que propicioacute quelas mercanciacuteas que introduciacutea el galeoacuten fueran accesibles para la poblacioacuten media e incluso pobreraquo(Yuste 1995 p 240)



proteins in everyday diets during most of the post-Columbian period(see Section 3)

An important contribution to the study of living standards has been madefrom a distinct albeit to a large extent complementary discipline anthro-pometric history The study of anthropometric measures mainly heights asa proxy for net nutritional status or biological well-being has become one ofthe most popular fields in social sciences during the last decades The effortsmade by two generations of anthropometric historians have permittedthe expansion of the knowledge frontier in topics such as the welfare ofhuman populations with which economic history has been dealing since itsconstitution as an independent field of research (Komlos and Baten 2004Steckel 2009) Although with some delay the anthropometric history ofSpanish America has finally started to offer new evidence and insights intothe still poorly known evolution of human welfare in this part of the world(Baten and Carson 2010) However in sharp contrast with Europe andthe United States only the studies of Argentina conducted by Salvatore(1998) and Salvatore and Baten (1998) starting their analysis from the latepre-independence period had been published before 20095

Thus studying living conditions in Spanish America during the EarlyModern Era is justified by reasons that are neither scarce nor minorThe article is organised as follows This introduction is followed by thesecond section that presents what may be described as the laquooptimisticraquo andlaquopessimisticraquo views on the subject under consideration In the third sectiona methodological discussion is presented The paper concludes with somefinal remarks

2 laquoOPTIMISMraquo VS laquoPESSIMISMraquo

The first optimistic example of the laquonew generationraquo of research on thematerial conditions of life of pre-independent Spanish Americans is that ofDobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009)6 The paper was presented atthe conference A Comparative Approach to Inequality and DevelopmentLatin America and Europe organised by Luiacutes Beacutertola Leandro Pradosde la Escosura and Jeffrey Williamson in Madrid7 In their attempt to putSpanish America on the emerging map of living standards throughout the

5 The Human Development Index approach followed by Prados de la Escosura (2004) is worthmentioning as an alternative attempt at estimating the level and dynamics of welfare in the regionHowever this author does not examine the pre-independence period

6 Available at httpideasrepecorgpucmwpaper14-09html7 Other authors such as Leticia Arroyo-Abad and Jan Luiten van Zanden who have also contributed

to the post-2009 literature also joined the conference More details athttpwwwfundacionarecesesfundacionarecescargarAplicacionAgendaEventosdoverPrograma=1ampidTipoEvento=1ampidSubtipoEvento=99ampfechaInicio=012F012F2009ampidentificador=980ampfechaFinalizacion=302F112F2009ampnivelAgenda=2



pre-industrial world Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009) estimatedpower purchasing parities of the daily wages of skilled and unskilled workers interms of the cheapest grain and meat in the early 19th century for a number ofcountries in the Americas and Eurasia8 In addition a comparison of grain andmeat wages of unskilled workers over the 18th and early 19th centuries betweenBogota London Mexico Milan and Potosi was presented

Regarding real wages Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009)departed from the methodology that has become the standard for this type ofstudies specifying a representative basket of consumer goods (Allen 20012005 van Zanden 2005) and estimating welfare ratios (Allen et al 2011a2011b 2012) Further discussion of methodological issues is provided laterin this article For the moment I will simply mention the main reasonswhy Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009) made their choice(a) paucity of data on prices of the goods included in the usual basketsfor pre-independence Spanish America and (b) the attempt to widen thegeographical scope of the comparison as much as possible

The paper also showed and analysed heights of adult males from northernand south-eastern Bourbon Mexico mdash including parts of todayrsquos south-western states of the United Statesmdash and Maracaibo (Venezuela) It includedan exploration of inequality from a different perspective to that adopted byWilliamson (2009) although influenced by his previous work (Williamson1999) Thus two ratios were calculated (1) GDP per capita to grain wages forthe early 19th century an adaptation of the Williamson inequality index toavailable data and (2) a more speculative index of inequality computed as theratio of GDP per capita to heights

This double approach to the study of living standards offered a basicallylaquooptimisticraquo view9 In fact grain and meat wages in the early 19th centuryin Bogota Guadalajara laquohotraquo and laquocoldraquo regions of New Spain MexicoCity Potosiacute and San Luis Potosi compared fairly well with or surpassedthose of Eurasia Moreover throughout most of the 18th and early 19th

centuries grain wages in Bogota Mexico City and Potosi were at a similarlevel to or above those in London and southern England and consistentlyhigher than in Italy It was even more surprising to observe that meatwages mdash a superior good in the late pre-industrial world mdash in BogotaGuadalajara Mexico City and Puebla were always higher than in thetwo locations taken as representative of the band of variation in Europe (seeFigure 1)

Heights of Spanish American adult males showed significant regionaldifferences However the sample covering cohorts born from the 1730s to

8 Rafael Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Heacutector Garciacutea-Montero acknowledge Amiacutelcar Challuacutersquos gener-osity at sharing his unpublished data set on New Spainrsquos wages

9 The possibility that real wages are more closely related to heights than GDP per capita wasrecognised by Allen (2001)



the 1770s made it clear that heights were not shorter than in many Europeanregions except for south-eastern New Spain where they were clearly inthe low range of the international standards of the time (Asia excluded)A racial mdash social mdash gap did indeed exist but it was neither larger thanin other societies nor increasing over the decades under considerationFurthermore inequality in Bolivia Colombia and Mexico measured by thelaquoadapted-to-data-availabilityraquo Williamson index was among the lowest in asample of countries that included several western countries (see Figure 2)Certainly these findings might be in need of revision if a further expansion ofthe sample so suggested In any case as far as inequality is concerned theconclusions presented in Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009) werein tune with claims by Coatsworth (2008) and Williamson (2009)10

Thus the laquooptimisticraquo view proposed by Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero is based on (a) the comparison with other parts of the world and (b)the contrast between our empirical findings and the somber inferences thatmay be derived with respect to the material conditions of life among

FIGURE 1MEAT WAGES OF UNSKILLED WORKERS CIRCA 1803

Note al agricultural labourer alhr agricultural labourer laquohot regionsraquo alcragricultural labourer laquocold regionsraquoSource Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009)

10 laquohellip what little quantitative evidence there is does not suggest that ownership of land or otherassets for that matter was more concentrated in Latin America than in the United Statesraquo(Coatsworth 2008 p 553) laquoIt is not true that pre-industrial Latin America was more unequal thanpre-industrial northwest Europeraquo (Williamson 2009 p 14)



labourers in pre-independence Spanish America (relatively low real wagesshort heights and high inequality) from the neo-institutionalist hypothesisDobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2010) basically showed the sameresults regarding economic (real wages) and biological (heights) livingstandards and inequality A new hypothesis was then proposed in the light ofthe results obtained it seemed reasonable to wonder whether the GDP percapita estimates by Coatsworth (2008) and Maddison (2009) should berevised upwards11

In 2010 two sessions of the Second Latin American Economic HistoryCongress held in Mexico City reflected the increasing interest of economichistorians from many countries in living standards and inequality in SpanishAmerica The session laquoOrigins and Trends of Inequality in Latin Americaraquowas coordinated by Beacutertola and Linda Twrdek while Daniel Santilli IneacutesMoraes and Julio Djenderedjian were the convenors of the session laquoPricesWages Inequality and Living Standards in Latin America 1700-1850raquo

FIGURE 2WILLIAMSONrsquoS INDEX OF INEQUALITY EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Source Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009)

11 In their re-estimation of pre-1820 GDPs per capita Bolt and van Zanden (2013) proceed tosome extent in this way Their new estimates for Brazil Chile Colombia and Mexico in 1800 areclearly higher than those of Coatsworth (2008) The opposite happens with Argentina and Cubawhich might have previously been overestimated (1194 and 1312 Geary-Khamis internationaldollars of 1990 respectively) For 1820 the comparison is possible only for Brazil and Mexico andyields the same outcome As for Maddisonrsquos figures for 1820 the conclusions are more ambiguousas it is difficult to make sure whether they refer to the years before or after the conflicts thateventually lead to independence



Rafael Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Heacutector Garciacutea-Montero contributed to the twoabove-mentioned sessions Tommy Murphy also made a contribution to onesession of the II CLADHE Congress in which the initial research on livingstandards in the Americas conducted by Robert Allen himself and EricSchneider was announced The joint work of these three authors appeared asa working paper of the IGIER in 2011 (Allen et al 2011b) with the titlelaquoThe Colonial Origins of the Divergence in the Americas A Labor MarketApproachraquo12 From the methodology used an estimation of welfareratios based on a bare-bones subsistence basket of goods from 1525-1549to 1800-1824 (see Table 1) a laquopessimisticraquo view of Spanish Americanliving standards is derived In the abstract they claimed that laquothe LatinAmerican colonies [were] among the least developed countries at a similarlevel to Southern European and Asian countriesraquo (Allen et al 2011b)

TABLE 1Bare-bones subsistence basket of goods

Nutrientsday

Food Quantity per person per year Calories Proteins

Maize 165 kg 1655 43

Beanspeas 20 kg 187 14

Meat 5 kg 34 3

Butter 3 kg 60 0

Total 1963 60

Non-food

Soap 13 kg

Linencotton 3m

Candles 13 kg

Lampoil 13 l

Fuel 20 million BTU

Note The table is based on quantities and nutritional values for the maize diet of the Americas Forother parts of the world the diet uses the cheapest available grain and the exact quantitiesconsequently varySource Allen et al (2011b)

12 The paper did not discuss mdash or even mention for that matter mdash the pre-existent literatureThis is probably why they wrongly claimed that laquothis paper takes a first look at standards of living ina series of North American and Latin American citiesraquo (Allen et al 2011b p 1)



The laquocoloniesraquo considered in their sample are Potosi Bogota and rural andurban Mexico

Allen et al 2011b also offer an explanation for the laquocolonial origins ofdivergence in the Americasraquo based on the functioning of the labour marketsacross the continent While in north-eastern America high wages reflectedconditions in London low wages in Spanish America similarly responded tothose mdash much worse for labourers mdash prevailing in Madrid This disparitywas reinforced by the demography of the native population Thus labourmobility through inter-continental migration and differential demographicpatterns play an important role in the explanation of the early Great Diver-gence within the Americas proposed by Allen et al (2011b)

Interesting as it is this laquolabour-market approachraquo raises some empiricaldoubts The notion of a certain degree of integration of labour marketsbetween London and north-eastern America seems plausible and may findsome empirical support This is far from being the case regarding theHispanic Monarchy The progress if any of labour-market integrationwithin Spain in the Early Modern Era was at best limited Migration withinthe territories that comprise Hispanic America (eg Peru New Spain etc)was more common than generally thought (Robinson 1990) Some degree ofintra-territorial labour integration may be assumed for example acrosssome parts of New Spain or the Andes However there is no evidenceof significant migration across territories and hence of inter-territoriallabour-market integration If compared with the British colonies inNorth America geography and cultural diversity (language included) werepowerful obstacles to long-distance inter-territorial migration withinSpanish America As for integration across the Atlantic some data areinteresting in 1580-1640 the ratio of Spanish migrants to Spanish Americato the population of New Spain and Peru in 1600 equals that of Britishmigrants to the North American colonies (5 per cent) the same ratios for1640-1760 and 1700 are respectively 6 and 42 per cent13 In other wordscontrary to what happened in the colonies of British North America thenumber of Spanish migrants was simply not significant enough to permitsome integration of labour markets between Spain and Spanish AmericaWhat is more Spanish migrants were rarely or never labourers competing inthe unskilled labour market By and large Spaniards worked as civilservants clergymen members of entrepreneurial families professionals andskilled artisans Therefore it is very unlikely that wages in those highlyskilled segments of the Spanish American fragmented labour market inwhich Spaniards were over-represented responded to conditions ruling overSpanish labourers living in say inner Castile thousands of miles away fromMexico City or Lima and unable to afford the expansive trip to Spain not to

13 Percentages obtained using data on migration to the Americas from Engerman and Sokoloff(2012) and Maddisonrsquos estimates of population (httpwwwggdcnetmaddisonoriindexhtm)



mention Peru (nothing similar to the indentured servitude ever existed in theHispanic world) Moreover unskilled urban labour was very often suppliedby an ethnic group peculiar to the Spanish America society and with anincreasing presence over the centuries after the Conquest mestizos In NewSpain the most populated viceroyalty mestizos represented nearly a quarterof total population and a significantly higher percentage of urban dwellers bythe late 18th century (Saacutenchez Santiroacute 2007)

Allen et al (2011b) published an article in The Journal of EconomicHistory in 2012 While this paper recognises the originality of its attempt tofind an explanation for the differences in wages between British NorthAmerica and pre-independent Spanish America it is most probably wrong asall the available evidence runs against its main conclusion laquotwo streams ofmigrations in the colonial period mdash one emanating from North-WesternEurope at high wages and the other from Iberia at lower wages mdash created anearly difference in income levels in British and Spanish Americaraquo (Allen et al2012 p 889) Some difference in living standards may be observed althoughit was not always very significant or even existent at all (see Figure 1 andTable 5) In any case the magnitude of this difference crucially depends onthe measure of real wages used Moreover even if the causal relationshiphypothesised by Allen and his co-authors and even if their estimates areaccepted (see Table 2) some empirical problems arise (a) other Europeansincluding those richer than the Spaniards were also clearly poorer thansome 18th-century Spanish Americans (b) Londoners were richer than someNorth Americans from 1650 to 1750 although not afterwards (c) somenorth-western Europeans were richer than some British North Americansuntil 1750 and (d) differences among British North Americans were con-sistently not insignificant either Differences in living standards within Spainand Spanish America and between Spanish America and Spain are alsoapparent in 1750-1799 welfare ratios in Valencia were clearly above Madrid(33 per cent) some welfare ratios in Spanish America were higher thanothers (Mexico-urban vs Mexico-rural) and all welfare ratios were higher inSpanish America than in Spain Therefore one would expect a more detailedexplanation of the intra-Spanish intra-Spanish American and inter-Spanishand Spanish American wage differentials in terms of the laquolabour-marketapproachraquo proposed by Allen et al (2012) Might it be that the NorthAmerican exceptionalism explains differences with the rest of the world ofwhich Spanish America would be a particular case and not the mostappropriate term of comparison

Thus I disagree with the contention that laquothese initial wage differencesled to the Great Divergence in the Americasraquo (Allen et al 2012) To explain aprocess as complex as this Great Divergence a broader set of factors deservesan appropriate consideration geography (Gallup et al 2003 Dobado-Gonzaacutelez 2009) the laquopre-Columbian legacyraquo (Dobado-Gonzaacutelez 2009) theeconomic consequences of independence (Prados de la Escosura 2006) the



TABLE 2Subsistence ratios labourers

1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

North America

Boston 166 289 384 415

Philadelphia 506 534

Maryland 441 362 432

Latin America

Potosi 183 182 175 171

Bogota 128 214 215 205

Mexico-urban 254 237 153

Mexico-rural 018 061 091 127 150 144 093

North-western Europe

London 373 296 283 349 416 351 377

South England towns 289 221 165 203 279 252 315

Antwerp 288 287 289 248 275 248 232

Amsterdam 380 364 384 433 420 377 289

Southern and Central Europe

Valencia 246 165 170 187 182 135

Madrid 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

27

TABLE 2 (Cont )

1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

Florence 129 152 235 192 164 182

Milan 328 207 182 199 177 135

Naples 246 165 170 187 182 135

Leipzig 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

Vienna 129 152 235 192 164 182

Asia

Beijing 125 104 079

Lower Yangtze 078 217 179 115 078

Delhi 296 299 130

Bengal 139 083 084

Source Allen et al (2011b)

RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

28Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

laquocommodity lotteryraquo (Bulmer-Thomas 1994) late 19th-century developmentsand even others in the 20th century (Prados de la Escosura 2007)

In 2011 the working paper laquoBetween Conquest and IndependenceReal Wages and Demographic Change in Spanish America 1530-1820raquoco-authored by Leticia Arroyo-Abad Elwyn Davies and Jan Luiten vanZanden was published It appeared in Explorations in Economic History(hereinafter Arroyo-Abad et al 2012)14 The authors first laquoconfirm the factthat living in colonial Latin America was costlyraquo This result coincides withthat of Allen et al laquoThe cost of living indexes immediately highlight theinflationary effect of the silver economyraquo (Allen et al 2012 p 874) Plausibleas it sounds this shared claim is not necessarily true regarding the mainitems of the consumption basket of the commoners during the 18th and early19th centuries Corn was consistently cheaper in Bogota than wheat inLondon southern England and Milan It was more often than not lessexpensive in Mexico than in these European locations However it wascertainly more expensive in Potosi than elsewhere but only until the 1790s15As for meat Spanish America except sometimes Potosi was by and largemore favourable to consumers than Western Europe Sugar was especiallycheap in some parts of Spanish America albeit not in Potosi and theSouthern Cone Thus results crucially depend on the methodology followedArroyo-Abad et al (2012) basically replicate Allenrsquos methodology althoughthey introduce some changes (see Table 3)

Although not much discussion of these changes is offered they recognisethe fact that Spanish Americans could consume a comparatively very highamount of animal proteins as pointed out by Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009 2010) This sole change in the basket along with the wideningof the sample mdash Peru Argentina and Chile are added mdash explains why theirresults are not far from those previously found by Dobado-Gonzaacutelez andGarciacutea-Montero (2009 2010) and also depicts a much more laquooptimisticraquopicture of living standards (see Table 4)

Therefore in Argentina Bolivia and Mexico and to a lesser extent inChile real wages were laquorelatively high and compared favorably with realwages of large parts of Western Europeraquo (Arroyo-Abad et al 2012 p 160)In other parts (Peru and Colombia) real wages laquowere not particularlyhigh before the 1720sraquo but exceeded the subsistence level afterwards

14 This paper does not include any comment on previous works on the topic either Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) wrongly cite laquoGonzalez (2009)raquo instead of Quiroz (2005) as the author who foundthe low price of meat in Mexico City Allen et al (2012) mention Quirozrsquos work as support for thenotion that consumption patterns in Hispanic America were similar to those (quasivegetarian) in therest of the world

15 One of the main reasons why prices in Potosiacute mdash located about 4000m above sea level in apreviously scarcely populated area mdash were high when that was the case is basically geographicaland has passed unnoticed by both Allen et al (2012) and Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) the surroundingarea did not provide enough food to satisfy local needs (Bakewell 1989) and the distance toimportant supply markets of both agrarian produce and manufactures was long



TABLE 3Bare-bones baskets in Europe and Hispanic Latin America

Goods Unit Calories Protein Europe Mexico Peru Bolivia Colombia Argentina Chile

Food

Wheatoats Kg 3370 88 155 132

Maize Kg 3370 70 165

Beans Kg 1455 71 45

Meat (beefpork) Kg 2500 200 5 35 105

Butter Kg 7286 7 3

Other

Soap Kg 13 13 13

Linencotton Million 3 3 3

Candles Kg 13 13 13

Lamp oil Kg 13 13 13

Fuel Million BTU 3 3 3

Total calories (daily) 1936 1943 1938

Total protein (daily) 60 60 89

Source Arroyo-Abad et al (2012)

RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

30Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

TABLE 4Average welfare ratios in Spanish America and Europe (1525-741774-1820)

Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia Mexico Peru London Leipzig

15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) rely on anthropometric data for additional evidencein support of their claims laquoOur results are by and large consistent withbiological standards of living studiesraquo (Arroyo-Abad et al 2012 p 150)However they only mention the studies of heights of a few authors mdash notincluding those of Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009 2010) mdash anddo not present their own data Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) share a hypotheticalproposition made by Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2010) They alsosuggest that Maddisonrsquos estimates of GDP per capita might need to be revisedupwards laquothe starting level at the eve of the 19th century may have beenhigher than assumed so farraquo (Arroyo-Abad et al 2012 p 160)

Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) find that real wages in Spanish America areexplained mainly by general demographic trends and in the case of themining centres by the booms and busts of production The scarcity of labourwhich laquowas common throughout the Spanish empire in the Americasraquo wasthe most influential circumstance on the functioning of labour markets evenon non-market institutions such as mita and encomienda and their resultsshow that living conditions are clearly higher than those estimated by Allenet al (2012) I think that the rather laquooptimisticraquo view of real wages andthe demographic explanation suggested by Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) is moreconsistent with the available quantitative evidence than the laquopessimisticraquo oneand the labour-market approach that Allen et al (2012) propose

A recent research by Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato (2014) on livingstandards in Mexico City from the 1750s to the 1910s seems to be closer tolaquooptimismraquo than laquopessimismraquo16 On the one hand it is true that livingconditions deteriorated during the late part of the 18th century However asimilar trend is observed not just in Mexico City but in other places as well(see Tables 2 and 4) Except perhaps in North America (least disfavouredethnic sectors excluded) the second half of the 18th century and the firstdecades of the 19th century were not favourable for commoners in termseither of traditional consumption items or inequality in many parts of theworld Challuacute (2010) offers a laquopessimisticraquo view of the evolution of heightsthat as discussed below is not found in all available data sets andwas exclusive of New Spain On the other hand the level of real wages inMexico City estimated using Allenrsquos bare-bones basket was still lower in1900-1913 than in 1758-1774 while in 1875-1899 it was slightly higher thanin 1775-1779 In addition between 1760 and 1810 mdash when the Insurgenciastarted mdash welfare ratios in Mexico City were declining but were comparable

16 laquoMexico did not have exceptionally low living standards Even during the worst years of theperiod analyzed Mexican construction workers could buy two times the laquobare-bonesraquo subsistencebasket and during the best years three times that basket The comparison with Amsterdam isrevealing Mexico compared well to a relatively wealthy (yet declining) northwestern European cityfor a long part of the period under analysis Yet our results support a pessimistic view of Mexicorsquoslong nineteenth century economic developmentraquo (Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato 2014 p 24)Kindly shared by the authors before publishing



to those mdash also evolving downwards mdash in London and especially Amsterdamand clearly higher than in Beijing except in some especially adverse agriculturalconjunctures (ie the mid-1780s and the early-1810s)

In Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2014) the methodology usedis again the estimation of purchasing powers of daily wages although a newgoodmdash sugar a luxury productmdash is included By doing so we try to improvethe reliability of our deflators to capture the economic welfare of SpanishAmerican commoners as the consumption of sugar was relatively wide-spread in some territories (ie New Spain and Bogota) Another advantage ofincluding sugar is that the range of income elasticities of the three deflatorsused (grain meat and sugar) is expanded These three goods representedthe lionrsquos share of the consumption expenditure in most Spanish Americaterritories In addition we introduce into the debate on living standards theresults offered by Hersh and Voth (2011) a higher than usually recognisedincrease in welfare as a consequence of the new goods sugar includedaccessible to Europeans after 1492 (see Table 4)

Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2014) enlarge the comparison onheights as well and complementing the picture that emerges from ourmeasures of real wages reinforces our conditional laquooptimismraquo Differencesin both economic and physical welfare within Spanish America as pointedout by Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) are significant (ie southern New Spainheights) (see Table 5)

The laquopessimismraquolaquooptimismraquo dichotomy may also be valid to describethe main conclusions of the anthropometric studies on pre-independenceSpanish America (in fact New Spain) published since 2009 In contrast withDobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2009 2010 2014) Challuacute (20092010) and Grajales-Porras and Loacutepez-Alonso (2011) are rather laquopessimisticraquo

3 METHODOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

As previously mentioned the divide between laquooptimistsraquo and laquopessi-mistsraquo is mainly owing to methodological differences although not alwaysfor example Allen et al (2012) vs Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato (2014)regarding Mexico City real wages These differences will be discussed in thissection Several arguments will be presented to justify the departure from themethodology initiated by Allen (2001) to study real wages in the past

Allenrsquos methodology basically consists of (1) design subsistence con-sumption baskets (including both food and non-food items)17 (2) calculate

17 Allen presented a first basket of goods Except for substituting bread laquothe commodity con-sumers actually boughtraquo (2001 p 413) for grain not much justification of its composition isoffered laquothe quantities used as weights for the Laspeyres index They were suggested by examiningmany budgets and weighting schemesraquo (Allen 2001 p 422) They are thought to correspond laquoto thespending pattern of a worker when real incomes were high such as a fifteenth century craftsmanraquo



TABLE 5Nominal and real wages by the early 19th century (selected locations)

Grams of silver per day Kilos of grain per day Kilos of meat per day Kilos of sugar per day

Pennsylvania (1) 231 Pennsylvania (1) 179 Buenos Aires (1) 348 Pennsylvania (1) 37

Massachusetts (1) 204 Vermont (2) 128 Pennsylvania (1) 72 Massachusetts (1) 28

Massachusetts (2) 195 Bogota (1) 123 Vermont (2) 69 Massachusetts (2) 26

Potosi (4) 182 Potosi (4) 99 Guadalajara (1) 57 Mexico City (1) 23

Maryland (2) 174 Guadalajara (1) 95 Mexico City (1) 56 Bogota (1) 20

London (1) 172 Leipzig (1) 87 West Virginia (3) 56 New SpainHighlands (2)

15

Vermont (2) 141 Guadalajara (2) 76 Maryland (2) 54 London 14

West Virginia (3) 138 Istanbul (1) 75 Massachusetts (1) 46 Vermont (2) 13

Potosi (1 4) 121 London 74 Guadalajara (2) 46 Buenos Aires (1) 11

Southern England (1) 121 Mexico City (1) 67 Massachusetts (2) 44 Potosi (4) 10

Buenos Aires (1) 109 Potosi (1 5) 66 New SpainHighlands (2)

41 Southern England (1) 10

Guanajuato (4) 106 Antwerp (1) 59 Potosi (4) 41 Barcelona (1) 09

Chile (4) 96 Guadalajara (2) 76 Bogota (1) 32 South England (2) 07

Amsterdam (1) 92 Southern England(2)

52 Amsterdam (1) 28 Potosi (1 4) 07

Barcelona (1) 91 Gdansk (1) 36 Potosi (1 4) 27 Santiago de Chile (1) 06

Mexico City (1) 91 Calcutta (3) 31 London (1) 21 Antwerp (1) 05

Southern England (2) 86 Buenos Aires (1) 30 Palencia (1) 15 Milan (1) 04

Guadalajara (1) 76 Almaden (1) 26 Barcelona (1) 15 Calcutta (3) 04

New SpainLowlands (2)

71 Porto (1) 22 Southern England (1) 15 Amsterdam (1) 04

Antwerp (1) 69 Vienna (1) 21 Beijing (1) 13

Palencia (1) 67 Milan (1) 18 Almaden (1) 11

RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

San Luis Potosi (3) 63 Kyoto (1) 16 Southern England (2) 10

Guadalajara (2) 61 Beijing (1) 16 Vienna (1) 10

Bogota (1) 61 Pune (3) 11 Milan (1) 07

Santiago de Chile (1) 61

New SpainHighlands (2)

60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11

Note (1) Urban (2) rural (3) unspecified (4) qualified miner (5) unqualified miner mitayoSource Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2014)Bold values indicate locations in Spanish America for easiness of distinction from others in the rest of the world

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35

its annual cost mdash increased by 5 per cent in order to capture housing mdash ingrams of silver for a family (one man one woman and two children) at thesubsistence level18 (3) determine the yearly nominal wage (250 workingdays) of a full-time male unskilled labourer and (4) estimate welfare ratios asthe division between these earnings and the cost of the family subsistencebasket If the ratiorsquos value is one it means that the family consumption isidentical to the subsistence basket By construction higher ratios implybetter living conditions This approach has improved previous attempts toestimate and interpret real wages

However for general and particular reasons we do not consider the mostappropriate approach for the case of Early Modern Hispanic America Thisis why we have followed the rather traditional procedure of calculating thepurchasing power of daily nominal wages in terms of three types of goods(grain meat and sugar) complementing the results with those rendered by theresearch on biological living standards through the estimation of male averageheights I am conscious of the limitations of the Dobado-Garciacutea approachNonetheless it is my contention that it offers a sounder comparative perspectiveof the level and dynamics of both economic and physical welfare of SpanishAmerican commoners during the Bourbon period This is partially owing to ourstill unsatisfactory mdash despite the improvements reached over the last decade mdash

knowledge of the history of prices in this part of the world Therefore gains inthe time and space coverage have a cost of opportunity in terms of precision

Dobado-Garciacutearsquos critique of Allenrsquos methodology in particular regarding EarlyModern Hispanic America is based on the following arguments uniformity

(footnote continued)(Allen 2001 p 422) The inclusion of significant quantities of alcohol (182 l 206 per cent of totalspending) and some meat (26 kg 6 per cent) is then not surprising Rent is omitted Interestinglydifferences in consumption patterns across Europe were taken into account white bread olive oiland wine vs rye bread beer and butter Accordingly the fuel ration was set at two million BTUs forSpain and Italy and at five million BTUs for north-western Europe In Allen (2005) alcoholicbeverages and fuel were dropped from the baskets specified to compare real wages in Europe andAsia Allen et al (2011a) distinguish between laquobare-bonesraquo (minimum consumption for survival)and laquorespectableraquo (London lifestyle) baskets for Europe and northern China The laquorespectableraquobaskets were basically that of north-western Europe in Allen (2001) with a few modifications fornorthern China (fish and rice wine instead of meat and beer respectively) The laquobare-bonesraquo basketsreplicate those of Allen (2005) although they include fuel (three million BTUs) and reduce meatconsumption from 26 to 5 kg Minor adaptations to differences in the subsistence baskets betweennorthern Europe and Milan (oats vs polenta) and between SuzhouCanton and Beijing (rice vssorghum) may be observed in Allen et al (2011a) In China fish substitutes for meat as a source ofanimal proteins These authors recognize the medieval inspiration of the laquorespectableraquo basket thatrepresented the London as laquoit does not contain new commodities like sugar and potatoes intro-duced into Europe after the voyages of Discoveryraquo (Allen et al 2011a p 24) By construction fromthe subsistence basket post-Columbian new commodities are excluded Allen et al use the sub-sistence baskets based on the assumption that laquothere were strong similarities in the spendingpatterns of poor laborers around the worldraquo (2012 p 872)

18 In his attempt at constructing a laquosecond-generationraquo CPI for the western part of the Neth-erlands van Zanden (2005) showed the significant effects of including rent in the expenditure oflabourers over the Early Modern Era



of consumption patterns across the world stability of consumptions patternsover the Early Modern Era assumptions on factors that influence familiesrsquoincome and expenditure demanding data requirements adaptation toSpanish America consumption peculiarities They are assessed sometimesjointly in the rest of this section

As opposed to Allenrsquos methodology that of Dobado-Garciacutea does notneed any assumption to start with Allen et al (2012) rely on an arguablepremise the identity of consumption patterns across the world (excludingsouthern England and the Low Countries) and by inference within SpanishAmerica (Allen et al 2012 pp 872-873) To a certain extent it is true that theconsumption patterns of commoners in pre-industrial economies shared somecharacteristics as a result of the worldwide low levels of income Nonethelessabundant evidence shows that differences also existed Inevitably they areunderestimated if a basic universal basket of consumption is designed inisolation Geography ethnicity economic conditions and cultural practicesdiffered across Hispanic America This diversity could not but influence con-sumer decisions Observed contrasts regarding the nutritional traditions and theavailability of staple food between Mesoamerica (maize squash bean andpulque) and the Andes (potato quinoa charqui and coca leaves) or between theSouthern Cone (yerba mate wheat and beef) and the Caribbean (rice bean anddried beef) were not minor Market integration economic growth and culturalexchange within the pluri-continental Hispanic Monarchy may have favouredsome convergence of consumption patterns However diversity probablyremained higher than in other more homogeneous parts of the world in termsof geography and culture (Europe and East Asia) For obvious geographicalreasons the need for intake of calories and protection from the climate(clothing fuel etc) varied widely across Hispanic American territories (egPotosi vs Mexico City) This shortcoming inherent to the universal basket turnsout to be more apparent when North America and Europe (Boston Philadel-phia London Leipzig etc) are included in the comparison This circumstanceis considered by Allen (2001) In Allen et al 2011a fuel consumption contributesto the distinction between the laquobare-bonesraquo (three million BTUs) and thelaquorespectableraquo (five million BTUs) baskets in Europe and north China Howeverit does not play any role in the subsistence baskets designed either for ShouzouCanton and Beijing or for northern Europe and Milan Moreover no differencesin consumption patterns across those locations other than using different car-bohydrates as sources of the same amount of calories (the cheapest ones beingrice for ShouzouCanton sorghum for Beijing wheat for north-western Europeand polenta for Milan) may be observed in the respective subsistence baskets

Llopis et al (2009) assign different shares to some food (bread meatbeans fish and wine) and non-food items (fuel and lighting and housing)in their comparison of consumer price indices (CPIs) between threeSpanish towns (Madrid Palencia and Seville) in the 18th century In early20th-century Spain significant differences in diets still existed not only



between regions but also within regions or even provinces especially in termsof the consumption of some vegetables and in particular animal proteins(Nicolau and Pujol 2006) Thus in geographically heterogeneous countriessuch as Spain mdash not to mention others in Spanish America19 mdash inter-regionaland intra-regional differences in nutrition were complemented with intra-provincial differences20

As mentioned above Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) rightly distinguish betweenthree baskets in order to capture differences in consumption betweenEurope and Spanish America and within Spanish America (see Table 3) Thisattempt to adapt the universal basket to the specific conditions prevailing indifferent territories simply alters some food items Interestingly no largechanges in the baskets mdash simply the quantities of meat and beans mdash areneeded to modify upwards the results obtained by Allen et al (2012) andtherefore to depict a more laquooptimisticraquo picture of living standards of SpanishAmericans

Hispanic America could hardly have been left unaffected by the Colum-bus Exchange The inter- and intra-continental diffusion of species (wheatcattle sugar cacao etc) that widened the nutritional basis of humanpopulations in the Americas and elsewhere in the world progressed unevenlyover time and space However it was precisely in the American territories ofthe Hispanic Monarchy where diets probably experienced an earlier anddeeper change across the whole social spectrum over the Early ModernEra Therefore keeping the consumption basket constant over the centuriesmight be misleading as it overlooks the changes experienced by humans after1492 and not only in the New World21 Allen himself recognises that his firstCPI laquowas very much a premodern basketraquo as the laquoEuropean colonization ofAmerica and the Indies expanded the consumption of some goods (egsugar) and introduced others (eg tobacco potatoes tea and coffee)raquo (Allen2001 p 420) By the end of the 18th century these goods laquowere consumed byworking peopleraquo (Allen 2001 Allen et al 2012)

The extent of the changes in diets mdash and even the economy and society mdash

in post-Columbian America is revealed among other food items by sugar-cane and cacao not to mention wheat or beef Sugarcane was previouslyunknown Native to the Amazon region cacao was consumed as a drink byMesoamerican elites and probably also by commoners in pre-Hispanic times

19 laquoLatin America is more [geographically] fragmented than any region of the worldraquo (Gallupet al 2003 p 97) In particular laquocountries like Bolivia Brazil Ecuador Colombia and Peru show anastonishing geographical diversityraquo (Gallup et al 2003 p 96)

20 As the significant ones in terms of cost and composition found for Navarre in 1905 by Lana(2002)

21 According to Chen and Kung (2012) maize was not only rapidly adopted in China (ie in1511 and 1522 in Anhui and Gansu respectively) but contributed to significant changes in the totalagricultural output and presumably to food consumption Rice share in agricultural output droppedfrom roughly 70 per cent in 1637 to 36 per cent in 1931-1937



(Kiple 2007)22 After 1492 cocoa and sugar became complementary goodsthat were widely consumed in New Spain (Menegus and Tortolero 1999)According to von Humboldt (18221991) neither sugar nor cocoa wereconsumed exclusively by the rich Rather the contrary appears to be true laquoeluso del chocolate en toda Ameacuterica en frecuentiacutesimo el maacutes moderado lotoma dos veces por la mantildeana y a las tres de la tarde muchos lo toman tresveces no pocos cuatroraquo23 Imports from Guayaquil made possible theconsumption of laquocheapraquo cocoa by the laquopoorraquo in 18th-century New Spain(Mintildeo 2009) By the end of the pre-independent period Caracas andGuayaquil had been producing and exporting significant quantities of cocoasince at least the 17th century Exports from Guayaquil reached most ports inthe Pacific mdash from New Spain to Chile mdash and even sometimes Montevideo(Contreras 1990) Sugarcane cultivation had spread across a number ofterritories (New Spain Cuba Peru etc) British colonies in North Americado not seem to be very different in this respect24 Even in Chile sugarwas present with a share of 70 per cent in the index of imported productselaborated by Larraiacuten (1992) It also appears among the selected productsconsidered by Johnson (1992) in his study of prices and wages in lateBourbon Buenos Aires25 In Arequipa both Spanish and mestizas familiesconsumed sugar on a regular basis according to Brown (1992)26

Indeed as claimed by Allen (2001) including sugar in the basketlaquomay not affect the overall conclusionsraquo (Allen 2001 p 420) However theadditional exclusion of cocoa tobacco alcohol and other items that inaccordance with a variety of sources became familiar to many HispanicAmericans sooner or later after the start of the Columbus Exchange distortsthe reality of their everyday consumption Thus the practical reason arguedby Allen (2001) is more convincing for justifying their exclusion fromthe representative consumption basket although that procedure has a non-negligible impact on the results in terms of welfare ratios27

22 The idea that cocoa consumption was restricted to the Mexican nobility is more frequentlyfound in the literature

23 Ajofriacuten (1936 p 67) I owe this quotation to Andreacutes Calderoacuten24 In their comparison of living standards between Massachusetts and West Virginia and

between Massachusetts and England Go and Lindert include sugar (18 kgperson per year) in theirconsumption basket (httpgpihucdaviseduDatafilelisthtmNorthAmerica) This figure is theestimate for rural English poor 1787-1796 a laquohungry periodraquo by Davies and Eden as reported inClark et al (1995)

25 laquoLa ubicacioacuten del azuacutecar en la dieta local por otra parte era claramente importanteraquo(Johnson 1992 p 164)

26 laquoSin duda el costo del azuacutecar disminuyoacute en la medida en que crecioacute la produccioacuten local A lolargo del siglo XVIII se establecioacute un cierto nuacutemero de plantaciones de azuacutecar en los valles deTambo y Camanaacute a lo largo de la costa y Arequipa no se vio entonces en la necesidad de importarazuacutecar de Lima Lambayaque o del Caribe La disminucioacuten de los precios es reflejo de esa situacioacutenraquo(Brown 1992 pp 202-203)

27 laquoThis [introducing new items into a consumer price index] requires extremely detailedbudget information that is not available for the early modern periodraquo (Allen 2001)



There is another difficulty with the use of fixed baskets over a three-century-long period especially if significant changes in relative prices mdash forexample meat in terms of grain etc mdash occur such as during the EarlyModern Era Substitution effects on consumption patterns that may be largeand unevenly distributed across time and space cannot be captured throughfixed baskets of goods For example in London from c 1660 to 1810 sugarcheapened substantially with respect to wheat while the price of beefin terms of wheat increased albeit more moderately in Bogota from themid-18th century to the early 19th century the price ratio meatgrain grewfaster than in Mexico City Income effects on consumer choices that werepresumably not negligible either mdash that is 18th-century England and to alesser extent New Spain mdash are also opaque to very long-term fixed baskets

Thus especially in some parts of Spanish America mdash mainly New Spainand Lower and Upper Peru contemporary Peru and Bolivia respectively mdash

the very notion of an immutable consumption basket during the wholeviceregal period conflicts with substantial evidence In other parts fixedshares of food items over a sufficient number of decades can overlookimportant changes in the diet

Wages would also be sensitive to changes intended to reflect cross-country cross-regional and cross-sectoral variations of two arguableassumptions on which Allenrsquos methodology is based the average familysize is fixed without further elaboration at four members (husbandwife and two children of undetermined age) while the standard number ofyearly working days is established at 250 As we will see these aspects areespecially problematic over a three-century period and across all parts ofthe world

A universal estimate of yearly working days is not consistent with thevariety of labour practices existing in different economic sectors (urbanrural and mines) and their likely long-term changes Moreover the increas-ing substitution of free for coerced labour probably influenced the number ofdays worked per year in Spanish America The conclusions reached byVoth (2000 2001) support the expansion of both the annual workinghours and days in England from 1750 to 1830 and cast some doubt on thegeneral validity of Allenrsquos assumption regarding the comparison between18th-century London and 17th-century Potosi or 16th-century rural NewSpain28 More generally it is reasonable to expect that the number ofworking days andor daily hours changed upwards in response to increasesin prices especially if they were very intense mdash that is 16th-century Valenciaand 18th-century Mexico City (Allen et al 2012 Arroyo-Abad et al 2012)

28 Differences in working days between Protestant Westphalia and the Netherlands andCatholic France and Spain c 1600 and c 1650 might be in the range of the 10-13 per cent Workingdays in Spain might have increased from around 270 to 282 between c 1600 and c 1750 (Garciacutea-Montero-Zuntildeiga 2011 p 15)



Something similar may be claimed in relation to the assumption aboutfamily size It seems reasonable to expect that the number of family memberschanged in response to economic conditions and evolved over its life cycle29Ethnicity also influenced family size30 In addition the contribution bywomen and children to family subsistence was common and more impor-tantly unevenly distributed over time and across space The changeablecontribution of self-production to family consumption of goods and servicesrenders the joint examination of urban and rural living standardsmore difficult The role of transactions made outside the marketplace couldnot but respond to the level of GDP per capita presumably the higher thelatter the lower the former The economic heterogeneity of countriesincluded in the samples used by Allen et al (2012) and Arroyo-Abad et al(2012) and the very long period under consideration might have an effecton the role of the market as a source of income The very ideas of thelaquoindustrious revolutionraquo and the laquoconsumer revolutionraquo illustrate the role ofthe family as an important character probably the main one in this storyIn 16th-century Seville according to Gonzaacutelez-Mariscal (2013) thespectacular growth of prices mdash much higher than estimated by Hamilton(1934) mdash forced families not only to change consumption patterns (egsubstituting bacon for meat or introducing dry cod in their diet) but also toincrease the supply of labour of wives and children in the market in order toprevent living standards from falling below the subsistence level Sarasuacutea(2013) suggests for southern central Spain in the mid-18th century that therate of activity in the labour market of children between 10 and 15 yearsalone was 39 per cent In the same vein Humphries (2012) is emphaticlaquochild labor in terms of child participation rates and younger workingincreased during the classic era of industrializationraquo (Humphries 2012) Infact finding welfare ratios lower than 1 in periods of population growth asshown in Table 2 (Madrid between 1750 and 1849 and rural Mexico in1800-1849) suggests a growing participation of family members in the labourmarket andor in non-market activities31 Additional support is foundin Llopis and Garciacutea-Montero (2011) Their study of wages and prices in18th-century Madrid shows that family incomes did not necessarily evolvelike menrsquos wages because of (a) an increasing participation of women in the

29 laquohellip los cambios en la nupcialidad siguen a los de la economiacutea despueacutes de un corto intervaloEstos resultados tienden a confirmar la sensibilidad de la nupcialidad a las oscilaciones en losniveles de vida en Nueva Espantildea durante el siglo XVIIIraquo (Reher 1992 p 634)

30 Based on the limited evidence available Peacuterez Moreda (1997) suggests that patterns ofnuptiality fecundity and family size were not homogeneous across the varied ethnic spectrum thatcharacterises Spanish America They also changed over time the pre-Columbian patterns prevailingamong the aboriginals were getting closer to those of the Spaniards especially in urban populationsby the late Bourbon period Therefore assuming a family of four members is not always appropriatefor Early Modern Spanish America

31 For Madrid Carbajo (1987) and Lopis and Garciacutea-Montero (2011) For rural Mexico McCaa(1993)



labour market32 and (b) womenrsquos wages could decrease less than menrsquos33The limitations of the unchanging assumptions over time and space arefurther illustrated by Moreno (2006) in his study of living standards inPalencia between 1800 and 193634

The across-the-board 5 per cent allowance for rent might also be mis-leading as presumably it penalises rural living standards and less dynamictowns over the Early Modern Era35 van Zandenrsquos (2005) estimates forHolland show a higher and growing percentage (7 and 11 per cent laquoc 15thraquoand laquoc 18thraquo respectively) of labourersrsquo expenditures For Seville Gonzaacutelez-Mariscal (2013) shows that housing was by far the most rapidly growing itemin the CPI it grew from 65 per cent of total expenditure in 1521-1550 to 155per cent in 1551-1600 and to 174 per cent in 1601-1650 According toDrelichman and Gonzaacutelez-Agudo (2012) in 16th-century Toledo rentrepresented 95 per cent of total expenditures and evolved differently to otheritems In spite of this an appropriate consideration of housing costs reducesthe welfare gap between Toledo and Antwerp and Amsterdam by 95 and4 per cent respectively The estimates of Llopis et al (2009) for 1680-1800 are125 per cent for Madrid and Seville and 10 per cent for Palencia Lana(2002) also finds higher rents for Navarre 78 per cent in 1780 for a family offive members and between 6 and 10 per cent for a family of four membersBased on a previous monographic study of housing conditions in lateBourbon Mexico City (Calderoacuten 2009) Calderoacuten (2014) proposes 85 per centfor the main American town until the 19th century In some cases evenhousing shares of 5 per cent might be failing to capture the fact that the realexpenditure on that item could change over time in Palencia according toMoreno (2002) it grew from an index of 854 (1780-1784 = 100) to 2048 in1825 and moved downwards to 1415 in 1837 (Moreno 2002 pp 108-110)

Far from minor is the problem that Allenrsquos methodology is very datademanding Very long series of prices of all items in the basket (soapcandles fuel etc) mdash some of them not usually recorded mdash and wages are

32 laquola oferta por habitante de trabajo aumentoacute notablemente en determinadas fases de la EdadModerna Especialmente en el caso de las mujeres y en consecuencia las rentas salariales de lasfamilias tuvieron en el largo plazo una evolucioacuten bastante menos negativa que la de los jornalesraquo(Llopis and Garciacutea-Montero 2011 p 296)

33 laquoEn un periacuteodo inflacionista como lo fue la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII las mujerestrabajadoras pudieron perder menos poder adquisitivo por el hecho de que la parte de su salario quepercibiacutean en especie era en promedio mayor que la de los hombresraquo (Llopis and Garciacutea-Montero2011 p 305)

34 laquohellip mis nuevas estimaciones corroboran el declive de los niveles de vida en las deacutecadascentrales del XIX que los asalariados palentinos pudieron mitigar gracias a los ingresos pro-porcionados por mujeres y nintildeos Por el contrario durante el primer tercio del siglo XIX las rentasfamiliares no fueron tan sustanciosas como sugiere la evolucioacuten de los salarios de los varonesdebido a la caiacuteda de los niveles de ocupacioacuten femenina imputable entre otros factores a la crisis dela manufactura tradicional y a la filoxera hellipraquo (Moreno 2006 p 26)

35 Allen et al (2012 p 876) cite Gootenbergrsquos estimate for early-19th-century Peru of 78per cent



needed for different locations and long periods Despite all the efforts madeover decades by the many scholars who have produced data on prices andwages such a huge amount of data is simply not available This explains whynumber of procedures for filling in a plethora of gaps is frequently usedalbeit not always convincing (regressions interpolations averagesassumptions on the behaviour of markets and goods etc) For instance inArroyo-Abad et al (2012) the series of wages for Argentina between 1775 and1810 results from combining data on laquoconstruction workersraquo (1775-1810)with laquogovernment officialsraquo and laquobricklayersraquo (1810-1860) from BuenosAires that for Peru mixes the wages of laquomita workersraquo in Huamanga(1597-1603) mdash a mining area in the Andes mdash with those of laquoportersraquo in Lima(1625-1760) The explanations of the sources used for Mexico City wages36

and firewood37 by Allen et al (2011b) represent interesting examples ofarguable attempts to fill the gaps in the available time series The way inwhich Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) account for missing data for textiles in PeruPotosi and Chile also raises some reservations38 Using prices from Lima (thecommercially active and coastal capital of the viceroyalty) laquoto interpolatemissing price data for Potosiraquo mdash a remote mining town located more than2000 miles away from Lima and closer to northern Argentinarsquos markets mdash

does not seem to be fully justified (Arroyo-Abad et al 2012) In Allen et al(2012) prices of cotton cloth in Lima substituted for those in Bogota Thus itis not always easy to understand how the various methods used to buildcontinuous time series from incomplete or non-existent information for allitems in the basket influence the results obtained in terms of real wages

Given the dynamics usually exhibited by prices and wages in pre-industrial economies (volatility vs stability respectively) the errors in theestimation techniques used to overcome the lack of much original data arelikely to affect (volatile) prices more than (stable) wages Hence missing-data intervention produces worse results in the case of prices than in that inthe case of wages Thus confronted with the paucity of data we have optedfor a version of the approach previously suggested by Allen himself forthe case of Asia laquoIn view of the weakness of Asian price data for othercommodities it might be better to relate wages to the basic cost of a calorie

36 laquoUnskilled wages from 1525-1600 were interpolated using a regression line A generalincrease in wages to a constant 175 realesday was created drawing upon Gibsonrsquos wage estimatesGarnerrsquos rural and urban wages were converted from monthly wages assuming that workersworked 217 days per month From 1700-49 regressions were used to interpolate rural and urbanwages separately From 1750-1856 Gonzalez et alrsquos wage index was used to interpolate missingvalues in Garnerrsquos seriesraquo (Allen et al 2011b p 49) Incidentally a more careful reference of thementioned authors would have benefited the paper

37 laquoVery little firewood data existed for Mexico therefore the average price of firewood fromBogotaacute was used in the basketraquo (Allen et al 2011b p 48)

38 laquoPrice movements for most imported commodities in Peru Potosi and Chile were verysimilar although the price levels were usually distinct [hellip] we filled gaps in the price series oftextiles in one region with prices from another regionraquo (Arroyo-Abad et al 2012 p 163)



implied by bread and rice rather than to the broader cost of livingraquo (Allen2005 p 122)

The laquouniversalraquo consumption basket estimated by Allen et al (2012)clearly contrasts with the specific patterns of consumption found in differentparts of Spanish America Differences between the simple (four items) andlaquoquasivegetarianraquo food component of the former and the diversity andrelative sophistication of the latter are significant The CPI estimated for amestizo family by Brown (1992) shows that bacon mutton sugar potatoesand coca leaves among other goods were consumed in Arequipa The costof this basket decreased from 1996 pesosyear in 1690 to 1295 in 1820This decrease contrasts with the increase estimated by Arroyo-Abad et al(2012) for Lima from 699 g of silver in 1675-1724 to 729 in 1775-1820Johnson (1992) suggests that meat and fish (fresh and dried) were importantitems in the diet of the Buenos Aires commoners along with significantquantities of bread and yerba mate39 The structure of expenditure inSantiago de Chile reveals that consumption was also quite diverse as fatsugar animal proteins (dried beef mutton fresh and dried fish andseafood) fruit and vegetables (potatoes) play an important role the share ofnon-vegetarian items animal fat excluded is 271 per cent in 1754-1758(Larraiacuten 1992)

The CPIs constructed by Llopis et al (2009) Gonzaacutelez-Mariscal (2013)and Calderoacuten (2014) for respectively 18th-century Madrid Seville andPalencia Seville from 1521 to 1650 and 18th-century Mexico City show asimilar picture of variety in food consumption that contrasts sharply with theextremely austere basket specified by Allen et al (2012) In different pro-portions in the Spanish baskets we find less cereal and more meat and winethan expected and even some delicacies (sugar spices etc) albeit with avery light weight Morenorsquos (2006) study of living standards in Palencia in1800-1936 also shows food items that are ill-represented or not representedat all in Allenrsquos laquobare-bonesraquo basket (meat wine and milk) The Mexicanbasket surprises by its richness as it includes relatively abundant animalproteins and alcoholic drinks along with some vegetables sugar and cocoaamong others

As far as meat is concerned Braudel (1974) already noticed that thecomparative European laquoprivilegeraquo in terms of meat consumption during theEarly Modern Era although declining with respect to other civilisations suchas India China Turkey and Egypt was laquore-establishedraquo towards the east(eg Hungary) and Spanish America (New Spain and especially aroundMontevideo and Buenos Aires) In this respect Arroyo-Abad et al (2012)propose a more accurate approach than that of Allen et al (2012) as they

39 laquoTodos los viajeros que visitaron Buenos Aires y el interior notaron lo extendido que era elconsumo del mate entre los trabajadores nativos tanto varones como mujeresraquo (Johnson 1992p 164)



distinguish between laquomeat eatersraquo (Argentina and Chile) and laquoothersraquo (BoliviaColombia Mexico and Peru) The consumption basket of the laquoothersraquo isassumed to include much more meat than that of Europe (35 kg per capita vs5 kg) although the evidence suggests that meat consumption might be evenhigher As for Mexico City Quiroz (2005) is clear in this respect laquoComer carneno era un privilegio para la sociedad capitalinaraquo (Quiroz 2005 p 81) Theaboriginals were not excluded from this easy access to meat laquoLa carne de resera uno de los alimentos baacutesicos para el mantenimiento de los gruposindiacutegenas instalados en la periferia urbanaraquo (Quiroz 2005 p 87) Thus theimpressive level of meat consumption estimated for Mexico City in 1767(142 kg per capita) comes as no surprise Her estimates for lard (125 kg percapita) and eggs (1104 units per capita) are also remarkable The differencewith Europe and other parts of the world North America included becomesevident40 The share of meat in the CPI calculated by Calderoacuten (2014) is 16 percent Quiroz (2005) does not overlook distributional issues She laquoideallyraquoproposes a daily consumption per capita of 163 and 460 g for respectivelymestizos and Indians and laquowhitesraquo Accepting these conjectural estimates theyearly consumption of a family of the size assumed by Allen et al (2012) wouldbe nearly 180 kg for the laquopoorraquo and more than 500 kg for the laquorichraquo41

Any possible reduction of meat consumption in response to religiousalimentary practices as suggested by Johnson (1992)42 could not changethe basic fact Allen et al (2012) and to a lesser extent Arroyo-Abad et al(2012) seem to underestimate meat consumption in some Spanish Americanterritories even if some decline in the late decades of the 18th century wasthe likely result of price increases43 Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) partially avoidthis problem as they assume a yearly consumption of 105 kg per capitafor Argentina and Chile While the notion that meat was very cheap in

40 According to Baics (2010) consumption of fresh red meat by New Yorkers grew from 1323pounds per capita annually in 1790 to 1665 between 1795 and 1816 while in the Thirteen Coloniesthe figure was slightly higher than in Republican New York

41 In other New Spanish towns meat was also cheap (eg Guadalajara (van Young 1981) mdash seeFigure 1 mdash and Cuernavaca (Barret 1974)) The miners of Real del Monte could buy substantialamounts of meat in the 1760s with just a part of their daily wages (Ladd 1992)

42 For Buenos Aires this author suggests that abstinence of meat could reach 30 per cent of thedays over the year However fish mdash laquouna parte aparentemente importanteraquo (Johnson 1992 p 157)of the local diet mdash substituted for meat in those days of religiously motivated abstinence The extentto which the population followed the Catholic prescriptions remains unknown In any case animalproteins were not absent from the diet of more or less pious bonaerensenses

43 laquoEn otras regiones de Ameacuterica estos haacutebitos alimenticios eran similares Castillero-Calvosentildeala que en Panamaacute durante la primera mitad del siglo XVIII se comiacutea carne a dos carrillos enuna cantidad normal para un adulto de una libra diaria costumbre que habiacutea creado una costumbredifiacutecil de abandonar tanto asiacute que la carne era la base de la alimentacioacuten del panamentildeo y la dietacaacuternica tan magnaacutenima como la del europeo a fines e la Edad Media La Ameacuterica tropical espe-cialmente en Centroameacuterica Venezuela y Colombia donde la carne en tasajo era la manera maacutescorriente de alimentar a los trabajadores de Tierra Caliente la medida maacutes usada era la vara mdash yaque la carne para su conservacioacuten se cortaba en tiras largas y se secaba mdash esta vara igualmenteequivaliacutea a una libra y soliacutea ser la medida para las raciones diariasraquo (Quiroz 2005 p 71)



Argentina is widely accepted the comparatively meat-intensive consumptionpatterns in Santiago de Chile shown by Quiroz (2009) are somewhat lesswell known

The difference between the hypothetical meat consumption in Allen et al(2012) and the real one suggested by abundant qualitative and quantitativeevidence significantly contributes to their laquopessimismraquo The more realisticassumptions about meat consumption adopted by Arroyo-Abad et al (2012)substantially increase the degree of laquooptimismraquo mdash no matter how conditionalmdash concerning Spanish America living standards The inclusion of other goodsthat were usually consumed by the Spanish Americans of the Bourbon periodwould have a similar effect

As far as alcohol is concerned habits in some American territories do notfit with the claim that it laquowas seldom enjoyedraquo (Allen et al 2012 p 872)Abundant evidence suggests that rather the contrary was true Wine repre-sented 45 per cent of the agrarian products price index for Santiago deChile in 1754-1758 down from 18 per cent for that of 1669-1673 (Larraiacuten1992) Wine and eau de vie were increasingly consumed during the lateBourbon period in Buenos Aires (Johnson 1992) von Humboldt mentionedthe laquoenormous quantityraquo of pulque consumed by the inhabitants of MexicoCity (compared with total alcoholic beverages sold in Paris) irrespective oftheir diverse ethnicity (Indians mestizos mulatos and even a majority of thecreole whites) (von Humboldt 18221991 p 133)44 Chicha was popularamong the Andean population and Brown (1992) therefore includes italong with coca leaves in his basket representative of mestizo familiesrsquoexpenditures in 18th-century Arequipa Neither chicha nor coca leaves werepart of the ill-defined laquoHispanic familyraquo which on the contrary consumedwine and tobacco

Tobacco was present in the everyday lives of many Spanish AmericansAt least in 18th-century Mexico City where cigarettes were laquoinventedraquo evenwomen and children were heavy smokers laquoEsclavas y criadas para entre-tener a los hijos de sus amos les dejaban chupar de sus cigarros asiacute seescribiraacute con horror a mediados del siglo XVIII que en Meacutexico laquofuman hastalos paacutervulosraquo y que en muchos nintildeos arraigaba la costumbre cuando con-taban diez antildeos de edadraquo (Ceacutespedes 1992 p 31) Two centuries earliersmoking was already common among the poor after previously having beenlaquocosa de esclavos y bebedores de taberna y gente de poca consideracioacutenraquo(Ceacutespedes 1992 p 29)45 Thus based on a previous work Calderoacuten (20092014) estimates at 9 per cent the share of tobacco within his CPI for MexicoCity von Humboldt confirms that consumption of tobacco in New Spainlaquodebe parecer enormeraquo (von Humboldt 18221991 p 298) Smoking was also

44 Vaacutesquez (2005) shows the importance of pulque consumption by the inhabitants of MexicoCity (see also Quiroz 2005)

45 An interesting image may be seen at httpwwwarqueomexcomS2N3nVeracruz119html



significant in Spain von Humboldt considered laquoexhorbitanteraquo the stock ofpowder tobacco mdash other types of tobacco excluded mdash that might occasion-ally be accumulated at Seville (eighteen or nineteen million pounds) whilethe royal monopoly in Spain yielded in 1782-1786 an annual net revenue ofsix million pesos (roughly 140 metric tonnes of silver for a population offewer than eleven million inhabitants)46 In other parts of Hispanic Americawith the exception of Cuba tobacco consumption was probably less wide-spread However the revenue obtained by the Crown from the tobaccomonopoly was far from insignificant (Ceacutespedes 1992) which suggests a morethan merely occasional use of this non-essential

Despite its internal heterogeneities the Hispanic world on both sidesof the Atlantic seems to some extent to share some early and peculiarconsumption patterns These patterns were unevenly distributed over thewhole Early Modern Era across territories and throughout all socialsegments Meat sugar alcoholic beverages cocoa tobacco and probablysome Asian manufactures such as anti-flea combs cheap porcelain andtextiles (paliacates and rebozos are still part of the Mexican popular nationaldress) were usual among elites and commoners The latter should not bealways identified with aboriginals (eg Southern Cone and to varyingextents New Spain Upper Peru the Caribbean Basin etc) Thereforeabundant evidence is at odds with the universal and permanent subsistencebasket proposed by Allen et al (2012) as a valid standard measure of materialwelfare in pre-independence Spanish America

An excessively simple laquosoberraquo basket of consumption turns out to beunable to capture distinct features of the complex and heterogeneous nutri-tional patterns over the Early Modern Era in the cradle of the laquoColumbusExchangeraquo and probably of the laquoconsumer revolutionraquo as well Based on CPIsthat paradoxically are closer to the laquofirst generationraquo than to the laquosecondgenerationraquo the simple estimate of real wages by Dobado-Gonzaacutelez andGarciacutea-Montero (2009 2010 2014) offers straightforward intuitive resultsfor Bourbon America that are clearly less laquopessimisticraquo than those of Allenet al (2012) Besides reassuringly enough they are not inconsistent with thefindings of Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) if reinforced with substantial evidence onbiological living standards The Dobado-Garciacutea laquooptimisticraquo picture does not

46 Smuggling is unknown The Spanish figures are comparablemdashmost likely even highermdash if othertypes of tobacco (cigars cigarettes etc) were available with those offered for mid-18th-century England byNash (1982) Under the assumption of similar prices in the sales by the royal monopoly tobacco con-sumption in New Spain exceeded that of the metropolis as the revenue obtained by the Crown wassimilar to that in Spain while the population did not surpass 6000000 Even if the share in Mexico CityrsquosCPI might be somewhat overestimated as the main tobacco factory in New Spain was located in thecapital city of the viceroyalty value added by this non-essential good would not be far from 3 per cent ofthe GDP I owe these remarks to Andreacutes Calderoacuten in personal communication As differences in GDP percapita between New Spain and Britain or the Netherlands existed in c 1800 and tobacco demand may beassumed to be rather income elastic than not consumption basket design (of a laquothird generationraquo) needsto be flexible to capture particular preferences



contrast with that of Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato (2014) for Mexico City inwhich heights are also used Some differences in the interpretation of thebiological welfare of the New Spaniards between these authors and ours existand will be discussed below Our estimates of economic and biological livingstandards show significant variations within Spanish America as was alsoclaimed regarding welfare ratios by Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) Nonethelessliving standards across Europe were also far from similar that is Amsterdamvs Madrid or London vs Leipzig (see Tables 3 and 4) Thus the idea thatSpanish America was a laquonormalraquo part of the pre-industrial world should beseriously considered life was not especially harsh for its uniquely multi-ethniccommoners Most likely some of its territories were mdash both economically andbiologically mdash wealthier and less unequal mdash or at least not poorer or moreunequal mdash than other societies of the Early Modern Era

The few anthropometric studies of pre-independence Spanish Americapublished since 2009 (Challuacute 2009 2010 Grajales-Porras and Loacutepez-Alonso2011 Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato 2014) deal with New Spain and are closerto laquopessimismraquo than laquooptimismraquo As Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero(2009 2010 2014) basically share with them the same methodology our dif-ferences with their studies are of another kind47 If we consider the whole ofSpanish America (see Table 6) it turns out that we can find all ranges of heightsfrom very tall Argentineans to very short south-eastern New Spaniards48 Thisvariance was not larger than across Eurasia and it is consistent with the varia-bility observed in living standards In the 1750s laquoblancosraquo and laquopardosraquo fromMaracaibo with heights of respectively 1675 and 166 cm were taller thanmales in Moravia France Low Austria Bohemia Russia and Spain (seeMartiacutenez Carrioacuten 2012) Regarding New Spain some decrease in malesrsquo averageheightmdash that could parallel that of real wages during the late 18th and early 19th

centuries mdash seems more acceptable to us than the laquoGreat Declineraquo proposed byChalluacute (2009 2010) Compared with Europe this decline was rather modest adecrease of 25 cm from the 1740s to the 1780s does not seem properly laquogreatraquoas in many European countries it exceeded 09 cmdecade between the 18th-century peak and through (Komlos and Kuumlchenhoff 2012) Moreover the hugedecline estimated by these authors for the cohorts of English males bornbetween the 1740s and the 1840s might be interpreted in the sense that Englishmales might finally become shorter than the Mexicans This would be the case ifwe accept the estimates of physical statures for the 1840s of Loacutepez-Alonso (2010)and Carson (2005 2007) which contrast sharply with those of Challuacute for the1830s The claim that laquomen of Spanish descentraquo born from the 1750s to the1770s in Atlixco and Tehuacaacuten (Grajales-Porras and Loacutepez-Alonso 2011) was

47 Some of them have already been shown in Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2014)48 This latter case shows that information on biological welfare may substitute for real wages as

a valid indicator of living standards as the short height of the inhabitants of this part of New Spainconfirms the hypothesis that this was a backward region poorly integrated in the dynamic economyof the viceroyalty



TABLE 6Average height of adult males in selected countries and regions

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695

Central Meacutexico (Challuacute) 1652 1637 1645 1632 1620 1604

Maracaibo laquoblancosraquo 1690 1690 1675 1680

Maracaibo laquopardosraquo 1627 1647 1660 1665

Northern New Spain 1645 1653 1656 1647 1662

Peru 1630 1625

South-eastern New Spainlaquowhitesraquo

1614 1608 1593

South-eastern New Spainlaquopardosraquo

1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574

Interior Spain 1635 1628

Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

South-eastern Spain 1634 1635 1641 1645

Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680

United Kingdom (Cinnirella) 1710 1710 1705 1695 1665 1648 1646

United Kingdom (Floud et al) 1714 1658 1670 1690 1685 1715 1682 1675

England (Komlos andKuumlchenhoff)

1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722

Note Cohorts born from the 1730s to the 1840sSource Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero (2014)

RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

laquothe only case which found that Europeans were taller than their colonialcounterpartsraquo may be true for those two locations but not as a general rule forthe whole New Spain or other Spanish territories Mexicans were taller thanSpaniards in 1850 1860 1870 and 1880 (Challuacute 2010 p 92) The limited evi-dence on physical welfare used by Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) is not inconsistentwith our view on the subject49

Further research is needed for a better understanding of the inter-actions between economic welfare mdash measured by real wages or by GDP percapita mdash and biological welfare As for Spanish America meat-eatingArgentineans are rather tall and rich in terms of real wages and GDP percapita However the inhabitants of Maracaibo mdash whether laquoblancosraquo orlaquopardosraquo mdash are taller than what might be expected from their comparativelylow GDP per capita while Central New Spaniards or even more clearlythose from the northern areas of that viceroyalty do not seem to be astall as their protein-rich diet would suggest In Europe similar incon-sistencies may also be found In particular the case of Lombardy isshocking very low real wages in Milan do not prevent that part of Italy frombeing only second to England in heights in the mid-18th century Indeedinequality matters mdash including within-family access to food (Borderiacuteas et al2014) mdash but probably genetics and other factors also play their part In anycase it is clearly beyond the purpose of this paper to contribute to thiscomplex puzzle

4 FINAL REMARKS

It has been my intention to show the significant progress that the study ofliving standards of pre-independence Spanish Americans from an inter-national comparative perspective has experienced in the last 5 years Theprevious literature whose existence made the more recent one possible wasempirically very rigorous at a local scale However any attempt to compare theparticular case study with others mdash not generally for much longer than acentury mdash was absent This lack of comparability constitutes a serious limita-tion in the interpretation of the results obtained within the appropriate contextthat is the global history of the pre-industrial world Thus finding that realwages decreased in late 18th-century Spanish America is rather an empiricalregularity shared with most countries in Europe than a specific singularity thatanticipated the irreversible economic crisis of the laquocolonial systemraquo On thecontrary some of the post-2009 literature suffers from the opposite problemthe gains in terms of comparability over time (Early Modern Era) and space

49 laquoIn Argentina people were extremely tall (about 170 cm on average) even taller than mostEuropeans In Peru and Colombia average heights were much lower (163ndash165 cm) in the early19th century still sizable by European standards Mexican heights probably fell in betweenhellipraquo(Arroyo-Abad et al 2012 p 159)



(Eurasia and the Americas) are achieved mdash in particular but not only byAllen et al (2012) mdash at the expense of accuracy therefore missing the hetero-geneity of consumption patterns between Spanish America and the rest of theworld and within Spanish America This weakness inevitably tends to bias theresults towards laquopessimismraquo or at least limits their laquooptimismraquo

Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Monterorsquos methodology for studying realwages was initially intended to assess what Dobado-Gonzaacutelez (2009) definesas laquonew orthodoxyraquo the influent idea that contemporary problems ofdevelopment in Spanish America (low growth and high inequality) havelaquocolonial originsraquo The practically insurmountable problems involved infinding the information required to estimate the cost of the baskets proposedby Allen (2001) and van Zanden (2005) suggested the choice of a simplerapproach Indeed it has obvious shortcomings rural and urban (miners orothers) did not only consume separately grain meat or sugar Howeverjointly considered these three products represented the bulk of the com-monersrsquo expenditure mdash albeit not the whole of it mdash and cover consumptionof food items of varied income elasticities Regarding the interesting remarkmade by Allen (2001) in defense of new CPIs it is important to bear in mindthat Spanish America was different from Poland it was by no means a majorgrain exporter Thus grain wages are not as misleading as they may be in thePolish case Abundant evidence suggests that consumption patterns (het-erogeneous and changing over the Early Modern Era as they were withinSpanish America) do not adjust without frictions with the assumed universaland constant laquobare-bonesraquo basket used by Allen et al (2012) Improvementsmade by Arroyo-Abad et al (2012) do not fully solve this problem asresults obtained within the same methodological framework by Challuacute andGoacutemez-Galvarriato (2014) show A more detailed consideration of heightsoffers an interesting additional perspective that is absent in alternativeapproaches Challuacute and Goacutemez-Galvarriato (2014) being an exception

Given the trade-off between scope mdash that is long-term internationalcomparisons mdash and focus mdash that is rigorous consideration of localcircumstances mdash it is probably time for the birth of a laquothird generationraquo ofCPIs better adapted for the study of world living standards in the past Theyshould be more responsive to differences in consumption patterns over timeassigning changing shares to food items in the CPIs Housing and other non-food items should receive similar treatment By doing so Goacutenzalez Mariscal(2013) shows that his laquothird-generationraquo CPI for Seville evolved betweenthe early 16th century and the late 17th century in a different way to thealternative Sevillian CPI based on Allenrsquos (2001) fixed basket While trendsare similar differences in levels are significant mdash since 1560 GonzaacutelezMariscalrsquos CPI is always higher than Allenrsquos The gap between the two seriesis especially relevant from 1590 to 1640 roughly 33 per cent Presumablyother differences may appear when comparing rural and urban locationsdynamic and stagnant towns periods of inflation and deflation not to



mention those of laquoconsumer revolutionsraquo Peculiarities in consumptionpatterns across the world should also be taken into account Indeed thislaquothird generationraquo of CPIs will be very effort demanding and probably notpossible for all times and places But they will describe the diverse andchanging history of living standards in the past more accurately especiallywhen the family is considered as the basic and adaptive unit of income andexpenditure Taxation on consumption that might significantly affect pricedifferentials between locations should also receive due attention

Meanwhile Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Monterorsquos double approach(real wages as power purchasing parity of selected goods and heights)offers a useful international comparison of real wages and heights over timeEvidence is found in favour of an laquooptimisticraquo view of pre-independentSpanish America living standards This contrasts in a significant way withthe common wisdom on the topic according to which in its crudest versionthe laquocolonial legacyraquo was the mother of all contemporary evils afflicting thispart of the world

REFERENCES

ACEMOGLU D JOHNSON S and ROBINSON J (2002) laquoReversal of Fortune Geography andInstitutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distributionraquo QuarterlyJournal of Economics 117 (4) pp 1231-1294

ALLEN R (2001) laquoThe Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from theMiddle Ages to the First World Warraquo Explorations in Economic History 38 (4)pp 411-447

ALLEN R (2005) laquoReal Wages in Europe and Asia A First Look at the Long-TermPatternsraquo in R Allen T Bengtsson and M Dribe (eds) Living Standards in the PastNew Perspectives on Well-Being in Asia and Europe Oxford Oxford University Presspp 111-130

ALLEN R BENGTSSON T and DRIBE M (eds) (2005) Living Standards in thePast New Perspectives on Well-Being in Asia and Europe Oxford Oxford UniversityPress

ALLEN R BASSINO J-P MA D MOLL-MURATA C and VAN ZANDEN J L (2011a) WagesPrices and Living Standards in China 1738ndash1925 In Comparison with EuropeJapan and Indiaraquo Economic History Review 64 (1) pp 8-38

ALLEN R C MURPHY T E and SCHNEIDER E B (2011b) laquoThe Colonial Origins of theDivergence in the Americas A Labour Market Approachraquo IGIER-Universitagrave BocconiWorking Papers Series no 402

ALLEN R C MURPHY T E and SCHNEIDER E B (2012) laquoThe Colonial Origins of theDivergence in the Americas A Labor Market Approachraquo The Journal of EconomicHistory 72 (4) pp 863-894

ARROYO-ABAD L (2014) laquoFailure to Launch Cost of Living and Living Standards in PeruDuring the 19th Centuryraquo Revista de Historia Econoacutemica Journal of Iberian andLatin American Economic History XXXII (1) pp 47-76

ARROYO-ABAD L DAVIES E and VAN ZANDEN J L (2011) laquoBetween Conquest andIndependence Real Wages and Demographic Change in Spanish America 1530-1820raquoCGEH Working Paper Series no 20 Universiteit Utrecht



ARROYO-ABAD L DAVIES E and VAN ZANDEN J L (2012) laquoBetween Conquest andIndependence Real Wages and Demographic Change in Spanish America 1530ndash1820raquoExplorations in Economic History 49 (2) pp 149-166

BAICS G (2010) laquoAppetite for Beef How Much Meat did Early New YorkersConsumeraquo EUI Working Paper MWP no 201015

BAKWELL P (1989) Mineros de la Montantildea Roja Madrid Alianza EditorialBARBA F (1999) Aproximacioacuten al estudio de los precios y salarios en Buenos Aires desde

fines del siglo XVIII hasta 1860 Series y problemas en torno al tratamiento de losmismos La Plata Universidad Nacional de La Plata

BARRET W (1974) laquoThe Meat Supply of Colonial Cuernavacaraquo Annals of the Associationof American Geographers 64 (4) pp 525-540

BASSINO J-P BROADBERRY S FUKAO K GUPTA B and TAKASHIMA M (2011) Japan andthe Great Divergence 730-1870 Working paper London School of EconomicsLondon

BASSINO J-P and MA D (2006) laquoJapanese Unskilled Wages in InternationalPerspective 1741ndash1913raquo Research in Economic History 23 pp 229-248

BATEN J and CARSON S (2010) laquoLatin American Anthropometrics Past and Present AnOverviewraquo Economics and Human Biology 8(2) pp 141-144

BOLT J and ZANDEN J L (2013) laquoThe First Update of the Maddison ProjectRe-Estimating Growth Before 1820raquo Maddison Project Working Paper no 4

BORAH W W and COOK S F (1958) Price Trends of Some Basic Commodities in CentralMexico 1531-1570 Berkeley CA University of California Press

BORDERIacuteAS C PEacuteREZ-FUENTES P and SARASUacuteA C (2014) laquoLa desigualdad en el consumofamiliar Diferencias de geacutenero en la Espantildea contemporaacutenea (1850-1930)raquo DT-AEHE no 1411

BRADING D A (1978) Haciendas and Ranchos in the Mexican Bajiacuteo Leacuteon 1700-1860Cambridge Cambridge University Press

BRADING D A (1983) Mineros y comerciantes en el Meacutexico borboacutenico 1763-1810Meacutexico D F Fondo de Cultura Econoacutemico

BRAUDEL F (1974) Civilizacioacuten material y capitalismo Barcelona Editorial LaborBROADBERRY S and GUPTA B (2006) laquoThe Early Modern Great Divergence Wages

Prices and Economic Development in Europe and Asia 1500ndash1800raquo EconomicHistory Review 59 (1) pp 2-31

BROWN K W (1992) laquoMovimientos de precios en Arequipa Peruacute en el siglo XVIIIraquoin L Johnson and E Tandeter (eds) Economiacuteas coloniales Precios y salarios enAmeacuterica siglo XVIII Buenos Aires Fondo de Cultura Econoacutemica pp 191-219

BULMER-THOMAS V (1994) The Economic History of Latin America Since IndependenceCambridge Cambridge University Press

CALDEROacuteN A (2009) laquoUna serie de precios de vivienda Las accesorias del RealColegio de San Ignacio de Loyola de los Sentildeores Vizcaiacutenos 1771-1821raquoGaceta Vizcaiacutenas Publicacioacuten del Archivo Histoacuterico laquoJoseacute Mariacutea Basagoitiraquo II (4)pp 47-83

CALDEROacuteN A (2014) laquoStructuring a PRICE amp Wage Index for 18th Century MexicoCity Consumption and Living Standards in Atlantic Perspectiveraquo Paper presentedto the IV Congreso Latinoamericano de Historia Econoacutemica (CLADHE) Bogotaacute(July 23-25)

CARBAJO M F (1987) La poblacioacuten de la villa de Madrid desde mediados del siglo XVIhasta mediados del siglo XIX Madrid Siglo XXI

CARSON S A (2005) laquoThe Biological Standard of Living in 19th Century Mexico and theAmerican Westraquo Economics and Human Biology 3 (3) pp 405-419



CARMAGNANI M (1963) El asalariado minero en Chile colonial Santiago de ChileUniversidad de Chile

CARSON S A (2007) laquoMexican Body Mass Index Values in the Late-19th-CenturyAmerican Westraquo Economics and Human Biology 5 (1) pp 37-47

CEacuteSPEDES G (1992) El tabaco en Nueva Espantildea Madrid Real Academia de laHistoria

CHALLUacute A (2009) laquoAgricultural Crisis and Biological Well-Being in Mexico 1730-1835raquoHistoria Agraria 47 pp 21-44

CHALLUacute A (2010) laquoThe Great Decline Biological Well-Being and Living Standards inMexico 1730-1840raquo in R D Salvatore J H Coatsworth and A E Challuacute (eds)Living Standards in Latin American History Height Welfare and Development 1750-2000 Cambridge Harvard University pp 23-67

CHALLUacute A E and GOacuteMEZ-GALVARRIATO A (2014) laquoFurther Scrutiny of a CensoredCentury Real Wages in Mexico City in the Very Long Nineteenth Centuryraquo Paperpresented to the IV Congreso Latinoamericano de Historia Econoacutemica (CLADHE)Bogotaacute (July 23-25)

CHEN S and KUNG J K (2012) A Malthusian Quagmire Maize Population Growth andEconomic Development in China Working paper Hong Kong University of Scienceand Technology Hong Kong

CLARK G HUBERMAN M and LINDERT P (1995) laquoA British English Puzzle 1770-1850raquoEconomic History Review 48 (2) pp 215-237

COATSWORTH J H (2008) laquoInequality Institutions and Economic Growth in LatinAmericaraquo Journal of Latin American Studies 40 pp 545-569

CONTRERAS C (1990) El sector exportador de una economiacutea colonial La costa del Ecuadorentre 1760 y 1820 Quito FLACSO

DE AJOFRIacuteN F (1936) Diario del viaje a la Nueva Espantildea Mexico D F Secretariacutea deEducacioacuten Puacuteblica

DE RAMOacuteN A and LARRAIacuteN J M (1982) Oriacutegenes de la vida econoacutemica chilena 1659-1808 Santiago de Chile Centro de Estudios Publicos

DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ G (2014) laquoLa globalizacioacuten hispana del comercio y el arte en la EdadModernaraquo Estudios de Economiacutea Aplicada 32 (1) pp 13-42

DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ R (2009) laquoHerencia colonial y desarrollo econoacutemico en Iberoameacuter-ica una criacutetica a la laquonueva ortodoxiaraquoraquo in E Llopis and C Marichal (eds)Latinoameacuterica y Espantildea 1800-1850 Un crecimiento econoacutemico nada excepcionalMadrid Marcial Pons Historia pp 253-291

DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ R (2010) laquoPrices and Wages in Bourbon Mexico Form an InternationalComparative Perspectiveraquo in J Morilla J Hernaacutendez Andreu J L Garciacutea-MonteroRuiz and J M Ortiz-Villajos (eds)Homenaje a Gabriel Tortella Las claves del desarrolloeconoacutemico y social Madrid LID and Universidad de Alcalaacute pp 85-102

DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ R and GARCIacuteA-MONTERO H (2009) laquoNeither So Low Nor So ShortWages and Heights in Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries Colonial HispanicAmericaraquoWP1409 Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales UniversidadComplutense de Madrid

DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ R and GARCIacuteA-MONTERO H (2010) laquoColonial Origins of Inequality inHispanic America Some Reflections Based on New Empirical Evidenceraquo Revista deHistoria Econoacutemica Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History 28 (2)pp 253-277

DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ R and GARCIacuteA-MONTERO H (2014) laquoNeither So Low Nor So ShortWages and Heights in Bourbon Spanish America from an International ComparativePerspectiveraquo Journal of Latin American Studies 46 pp 1-31



DOBADO-GONZAacuteLEZ R and MARRERO G (2011) laquoMining-Led Growth in Bourbon Mexicothe Role of the State and the Economic Cost of Independenceraquo Economic HistoryReview 64 (3) pp 855-884

DRELICHMAN M and GONZAacuteLEZ-AGUDO D (2012) laquoWhat Price a Roof Housing and theCost of Living in 16th-Century Toledoraquo Economics Working Papers VancouverSchool of Economics

ENGERMAN S L and SOKOLOFF K L (1994) laquoFactor Endowments Institutions andDifferential Paths of Growth Among New World Economies A View from EconomicHistorians of the United Statesraquo NBER Working Paper no h0066

ENGERMAN S L and SOKOLOFF K L (2002) laquoFactor Endowments Inequality andPaths of Development Among New World Economicsraquo NBER Working Paper now9259

ENGERMAN S L and SOKOLOFF K L (2005) laquoColonialism Inequality and Long-RunPaths of Developmentraquo NBER Working Paper no w11057

ENGERMAN S L and SOKOLOFF K L (2012) Economic Development in the AmericasSince 1500 Cambridge Cambridge University Press

ESPINOSA L (1995) laquoAnaacutelisis de precios de los productos diezmados El BajiacuteoOriental 1665-1786raquo in V Garciacutea-Montero Acosta (ed) Los precios de alimentos ymanufacturas novohispanos Mexico D F Comiteacute Mexicano de Ciencias Histoacutericaspp 122-172

FLORESCANO E (1986) Precios del maiacutez y crisis agriacutecolas en Meacutexico 1708-1810 MeacutexicoDF El Colegio de Meacutexico

GALLUP J L GAVIRIacuteA A and LORA E (2003) Is Geography Destiny Lessons from LatinAmerica Washington DC Inter-American Development Bank

GARCIacuteA-MONTERO ACOSTA V (1995) laquoComparacioacuten entre el movimiento de los precios deltrigo y del maiacutez y el alza generalizada de precios a fines de la eacutepoca colonialraquo in VGarciacutea-Montero Acosta (ed) Los precios de alimentos y manufacturas novohispanosMexico D F Comiteacute Mexicano de Ciencias Histoacutericas pp 173-192

GARCIacuteA-MONTERO-ZUacuteNtildeIGA M (2011) La evolucioacuten de los diacuteas de trabajo en Espantildea 1250-1918 Carmona Seville Spain X Congreso Internacional de la AEHE

GARNER R L (1993) Economic Growth and Change in Bourbon Mexico GainsvilleUniversity Press of Florida

GIBSON C (1967) Los aztecas bajo el dominio espantildeol 1519-1810 Buenos Aires SigloXXI Editores

GONZAacuteLEZ-MARISCAL M (2013) laquoPoblacioacuten coste de la vida produccioacuten agraria y rentade la tierra en Andaluciacutea occidental 1521-1800raquo Universidad Complutense deMadrid Madrid unpublished doctoral dissertation

GRAJALES-PORRAS A and LOacutePEZ-ALONSO M (2011) laquoPhysical Stature of Men inEighteenth Century Meacutexico Evidence from Pueblaraquo Economics and Human Biology8 (3) pp 265-271

HAMILTON E J (1934) American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain 1501-1650Cambridge Harvard University Press

HERSH J and VOTH J (2011) laquoSweet Diversity Colonial Goods and the Welfare Gainsfrom Trade After 1492raquo Economics Working Papers no 1163 Department ofEconomics and Business Universitat Pompeu Fabra

HUMPHRIES J (2012) laquoChildhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial RevolutionraquoEconomic History Review 66 (2) pp 395-418

JOHNSON L J (1990) laquoSalarios precios y costo de la vida en el Buenos Aires colonialtardiacuteoraquo Boletiacuten del Instituto de Historia Argentina y Americana Dr E Ravignani3rd Series 2 pp 133-157



JOHNSON L J (1992) laquoLa historia de precios de Buenos Aires durante el periacuteodo virreinalraquoin L Johnson and E Tandeter (eds) Economiacuteas coloniales Precios y salarios enAmeacuterica siglo XVIII Buenos Aires Fondo de Cultura Econoacutemica pp 153-190

JOHNSON L J (1997) laquoThe Development of Slave and Free Labor Regimes in LateColonial Buenos Aires 1770-1815raquo Latin American Studies Consortium of NewEngland Occasional Paper no 9

JOHNSON L and TANDETER E (eds) (1992) Economiacuteas colonials Precios y salarios enAmeacuterica siglo XVIII Buenos Aires Fondo de Cultura Econoacutemica

KIPLE K F (2007) A Movable Feast Ten Millennia of Food Globalization CambridgeCambridge University Press

KLEIN H S (2007) The Atlantic Slave Trade Cambridge Cambridge University PressKOMLOS J and BATEN J (2004) laquoLooking Backward and Looking Forward

Anthropometric Research and the Development of Social Science Historyraquo SocialScience History 28 (2) pp 191-210

KOMLOS J and KUumlCHENHOFF H (2012) laquoThe Diminution of the Physical Stature of theEnglish Male Population in the Eighteenth Centuryraquo Cliometrica 6 pp 45-62

LADD D M (1992) Geacutenesis y desarrollo de una huelga Mexico D F Alianza EditorialLANA J M (2002) laquoJornales salarios ingresos Aproximacioacuten a la evolucioacuten de los

niveles de vida desde la Navarra rural (1801-1935)raquo in J M Martiacutenez Carrioacuten (ed)El nivel de vida en la Espantildea rural siglos XVIII-XX Alicante Universidad de Alicantepp 183-229

LARRAIacuteN J (1992) laquoProducto y precios El caso chileno en los siglos XVII y XVIIIraquoin L J Johnson and E Tandeter (eds) Economiacuteas coloniales Precios y salariosen Ameacuterica Latina siglo XVII Buenos Aires Fondo de Cultura Econoacutemicapp 119-152

LLOPIS E GARCIacuteA-MONTERO HIERNAUX A GARCIacuteA-MONTERO MONTERO H GOacuteNZALEZ

MARISCAL M and HERNAacuteNDEZ GARCIacuteA-MONTERO R (2009) laquoIacutendices de precios de tresciudades espantildeolas 1680-1800 Madrid Palencia y Sevillaraquo Ameacuterica Latina en laHistoria Econoacutemica 32 pp 29-80

LLOPIS E and GARCIacuteA-MONTERO MONTERO H (2011) laquoPrecios y salarios en Madrid1680-1800raquo Investigaciones de Historia Econoacutemica 7 pp 295-309

LOacutePEZ-ALONSO M (2010) laquoLiving Standards of the Mexican Laboring Classes1850-1950 An Anthropometric Approachraquo in R D Salvatore J H Coatsworthand A E Challuacute (eds) Living Standards in Latin American History Height Welfareand Development 1750-2000 Cambridge Harvard University Press pp 69-103

LUSTIG N LOacutePEZ-CALVA L and ORTIZ-JUAREZ E (2013) laquoDeconstructing the Decline inInequality in Latin Americaraquo Working Papers no 1314 Department of EconomicsTulane University

MACERA P (1992) Precios del Peruacute siglos XVI-XIX Lima Fondo EditorialMADDISON A (2009) laquoStatistics on World Population GDP and Per Capita GDP 1-2006

ADraquo Available at httpwwwggdcnetmaddisonMARTIacuteNEZ CARRIOacuteN J M (2012) laquoLa talla de los europeos 1700-2000 ciclos crecimiento

y desigualdadraquo Investigaciones de Historia Econoacutemica 8 pp 176-187MCCAA R (1993) laquoThe Peopling of Nineteenth-Century Mexico Critical Scrutiny of a

Censured Centuryraquo Statistical Abstract of Latin America 30 (1) pp 602-633MENEGUS M and TORTOLERO A (1999) laquoIntroduccioacutenraquo in M Menegus and

A Tortolero (eds) Agricultura mexicana crecimiento e innovaciones Meacutexico DFInstituto Mora pp 7-32

MINtildeO M (2009) laquoEl laquocacao guayaquilraquo en Nueva Espantildea Siglo XVIIIraquo MexicanStudiesEstudios Mexicanos 25 (1) pp 1-18



MONTEIRO J M (2006) laquoLabor Systemsraquo in V Bulmer-Thomas J H Coatsworth andR Corteacutes (eds) The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America vol 1 CambridgeCambridge University Press pp 395-422

MORENO J (2002) laquoiquestFomentoacute el capitalismo agrario la desigualdad Salarios yniveles de vida en Castilla la Vieja 1751-1861raquo in J M Martiacutenez Carrioacuten (ed) Elnivel de vida en la Espantildea rural siglos XVIII-XX Alicante Universidad de Alicantepp 75-112

MORENO J (2006) laquoEl nivel de vida en la Espantildea atrasada entre 1800 y 1936 El caso dePalenciaraquo Investigaciones en Historia Econoacutemica 4 pp 9-50

NASH R C (1982) laquoThe English and Scottish Tobacco Trades in the Seventeenthand Eighteenth Centuries Legal and Illegal Traderaquo Economic History Review 35 (3)pp 354-372

NICOLAU R and PUJOL J (2006) laquoVariaciones regionales de los precios de consumo y delas dietas en Espantildea en los inicios de la transicioacuten demograacuteficaraquo Revista de HistoriaEconoacutemica XXIV (3) pp 521-554

PARDO A (1972) Geografiacutea econoacutemica y humana de Colombia Bogotaacute Ediciones TercerMundo

PEacuteREZ MOREDA V (1997) laquoDel mosaico al caleidoscopio componentes culturales en lossistemas de nupcialidad fecundidad y familia de Espantildea y Ameacuterica hispana (ss XVI-XIX)raquo in R Rowland and I Moll (eds) La demografiacutea y la historia de la familiaMurcia Universidad de Murcia pp 43-61

POMERANZ K (2000) The Great Divergence China Europe and the Making of the ModernWorld Economy Princeton NJ Princeton University Press

PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA L (2004) laquoWhen Did Latin America Fall Behind Evidence fromLong-Run International Inequalityraquo WP 04-66 Department of Economic History andInstitutions Series Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA L (2006) laquoThe Economic Consequences of Independence inLatin Americaraquo in V Bulmer-Thomas J H Coatsworth and R Corteacutes (eds) TheCambridge Economic History of Latin America vol 1 Cambridge CambridgeUniversity Press Cambridge pp 463-504

PRADOS DE LA ESCOSURA L (2007) laquoWhen Did Latin America Fall Behindraquo inS Edwards G Esquivel and G Maacuterquez (eds) The Decline of Latin AmericanEconomies Growth Institutions and Crises Chicago IL The University of ChicagoPress pp 15-57

QUIROZ E (2005) Entre el lujo y la subsistencia Mercado abastecimiento y precios de lacarne en la ciudad de Meacutexico 1750-1812 Mexico D F El Colegio de Meacutexico

QUIROZ E (2009) laquoSalarios y condiciones de vida en Santiago de Chile 1790-1805raquoin E Quiroz (ed) Condiciones de vida y de trabajo en la Ameacuterica coloniallegislacioacuten praacutecticas laborales y sistemas salariales Bogotaacute Universidad de losAndes pp 211-264

REHER D S (1992) laquoiquestMalthus de Nuevo Poblacioacuten y Economiacutea en Meacutexico durante elsiglo XVIIIraquo Historia Mexicana XLI (4) pp 615-664

ROBINSON D J (1990) Migration in Colonial Spanish America Cambridge Studies inHistorical Geography Cambridge Cambridge University Press

SALVATORE R D (1998) laquoHeights and Welfare in Late-Colonial and Post-IndependenceArgentinaraquo in J Komlos and J Baten (eds) The Biological Standard of Living inComparative Perspective Stuttgart Franz Steiner Verlag pp 97-121

SALVATORE R D and BATEN J (1998) laquoA Most Difficult Case of Estimation ArgentinianHeights 1770-1840raquo in J Komlos and J Baten (eds) The Biological Standard ofLiving in Comparative Perspective Stuttgart Franz Steiner Verlag pp 90-96



SAacuteNCHEZ ALBORNOZ N (2006) La introduccioacuten del trabajo asaariado en las Indiasraquo in Rumboa Ameacuterica gente ideas y lengua Mexico D F El Colegio de Meacutexico pp 97-122

SAacuteNCHEZ SANTIROacute E (2007) laquoEl legado econoacutemico del Antiguo Reacutegimen colonialnovohispanoraquo in Dobado-Gonzaacutelez R Goacutemez-Galvarriato A and Maacuterquez G(eds) Meacutexico y Espantildea iquestHistorias econoacutemicas semejantes Meacutexico Fondo deCultura Econoacutemica pp 137-182

SARASUacuteA C (2013) laquoiquestActivos desde cuaacutendo La edad de acceso al mercado de trabajo enla Espantildea del siglo XVIIIraquo DT-AEHE no 1309

STERN S J (1982) Perursquos Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish ConquestHuamanga to 1640 Madison WI University of Wisconsin Press

STECKEL RH (2009) laquoHeights and Human Welfare Recent Developments and NewDirectionsraquo Explorations in Economic History 46(1) pp 1-23

TANDETER E (1992) Coaccioacuten y Mercado La mineriacutea de la plata en el Potosiacute colonial1692-1826 Cuzco Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos Bartolomeacute de las Casas

TANDETER E and WACHTEL N (1992) laquoPrecios y produccioacuten agrarian Potosiacute y Charcasen el siglo XVIIIraquo in J Lyman and E Tandeter (eds) Economiacuteas coloniales Preciosy salarios en Ameacuterica siglo XVIII Buenos Aires Fondo de Cultura Econoacutemicapp 221-301

VAN YOUNG E (1981) Hacienda and Market in Eighteenth Century Mexico Berkeley CAUniversity of California Press

VAN YOUNG E (1992) La crisis del orden colonial Mexico D F Alianza EditorialVAacuteSQUEZ M A (2005) laquoLas pulqueriacuteas en la vida diaria de los habitantes de la Ciudad de

Meacutexicoraquo in P Gonzalbo (ed) Historia de la vida cotidiana en Meacutexico vol III El sigloXVIII entre tradicioacuten y cambio Meacutexico D F El Colegio de Meacutexico pp 71-95

VAN ZANDEN J L (2005) laquoWhat Happened to the Standard of Living Before theIndustrial Revolution New Evidence from the Western Part of the Netherlandsraquo inR C AllenRobert C T Bengtsson and M Dribe (eds) Living Standards in the PastNew Perspectives on Well-Being in Asia and Europe Oxford Oxford University Presspp 173-194

VELASCO C (1989) Los trabajadores mineros en la Nueva Espantildea 1750-1810 inE Caacuterdenas (ed) Historia Econoacutemica de Meacutexico Mexico D F Fondo de CulturaEconoacutemica pp 563-589

VON HUMBOLDT A (18221991) Ensayo poliacutetico sobre el reino de la Nueva Espantildea MeacutexicoD F Porruacutea

VOTH H J (2000) Time and Work in England 1750-1830 Oxford Oxford UniversityPress

VOTH H J (2001) laquoThe Longest Years New Estimates of Labor Input in England1760-1830raquo Journal of Economic History 61 (4) pp 1065-1082

WILLIAMSON J G (1999) laquoReal Wage Inequality and Globalization in Latin AmericaBefore 1940raquo Revista de Historia Econoacutemica XVII (special issue) pp 101-142

WILLIAMSON J G (2002) laquoLand Labor and Globalization in the Third World 1870-1940raquo Journal of Economic History 62 (1) pp 55-85

WILLIAMSON J G (2009) laquoFive Centuries of Latin American Inequalityraquo NBER WorkingPaper no 15305

YUSTE C (1995) laquoLos precios de las mercanciacuteas asiaacuteticas en el siglo XVIIIraquo in VGarciacutea-Montero (ed) Los precios de alimentos y manufacturas novohispanosMexico D F Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en AntropologiacuteaSocial pp 231-264



PRE-INDEPENDENCE SPANISH AMERICANS POOR SHORT AND UNEQUALampx2026 OR THE OPPOSITEampx002A

ampx002AThe research from which this paper draws has been financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (ECON2008-01989ampx002FECON and ECO2011-26286) and a Tinker Professorship held by the author at the Columbia University in 2010 I appreci

1 INTRODUCTION

2 ampx00ABOptimismampx00BB Vs ampx00ABPessimismampx00BB

Figure 1Meat wages of unskilled workers circa 1803

Figure 2Williamsonampx2019s index of inequality early 19th century Source Dobado-Gonzampx00E1lez and Garcampx00EDa-Montero (2009)

Table 1Bare-bones subsistence basket ofgoods

Table 2Subsistence ratios labourers

Table 3Bare-bones baskets in Europe and Hispanic Latin America

Table 4Average welfare ratios in Spanish America and Europe (1525-74ampx002F1774-1820)


Table 5Nominal and real wages by the early 19th century (selected locations)

Table 6Average height of adult males in selected countries and regions

4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES

whole Early Modern Era Part of this literature also complements theexamination of economic welfare using height as an indicator of bio-logical welfare Inequality is also quantitatively approached in one of theworks discussed In spite of significant similarities some methodologicaldifferences lead to contrasting results For the sake of simplicity the relevantliterature is divided into two views laquopessimismraquo and laquooptimismraquo It is mycontention that the latter is more consistent with the available evidence

Keywords living standards real wages Latin America Early ModernEra

JEL Code N3 N36

RESUMEN

Este artiacuteculo intenta establecer un debate entre visiones distintas acerca delos niveles de vida en la Ameacuterica espantildeola del periacuteodo virreinal Desde 2009 unnuacutemero creciente de trabajos comparte un ldquolenguaje comuacutenrdquo basado en unametodologiacutea similar aunque no ideacutentica Como nunca antes esta ldquonuevageneracioacutenrdquo de estudios se apoya en series largas de datos cuantitativos ycomparaciones internacionales de precios y salarios nominales que en algunoscasos se extienden a lo largo de toda la Edad Moderna Algunos deestos trabajos complementan el examen del bienestar econoacutemico mediante eluso de estaturas como indicador del bienestar bioloacutegico La desigualdad esestudiada cuantitativamente en uno de los trabajos aquiacute considerados A pesarde semejanzas importantes ciertas diferencias metodoloacutegicas se traducenen resultados dispares Simplificando la literatura maacutes relevante puede serdividida en dos visiones ldquopesimismordquo y ldquooptimismordquo A mi juicio la segunda esmaacutes consistente con los datos disponibles

Palabras clave niveles de vida salarios reales Ameacuterica Latina EdadModerna

1 INTRODUCTION

Living standards in pre-independent Spanish America have recentlyattracted more scholarly interest than ever before Since 2009 a growingliterature dealing with this topic has been made available in differentformatsmdash contributions to seminars and conferences working papers journalarticles and book chapters mdash to the international academic community ofeconomic historians (Dobado-Gonzaacutelez and Garciacutea-Montero 2009 2010 2014Dobado-Gonzaacutelez 2010 Dobado and Marrero 2011 Allen et al 2011 2012

























































Nutrientsday


Maize 165 kg 1655 43


Meat 5 kg 34 3

Butter 3 kg 60 0

Total 1963 60

Non-food

Soap 13 kg

Linencotton 3m

Candles 13 kg

Lampoil 13 l

Fuel 20 million BTU

















1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

North America

Boston 166 289 384 415



Latin America

Potosi 183 182 175 171

Bogota 128 214 215 205


Mexico-rural 018 061 091 127 150 144 093


London 373 296 283 349 416 351 377


Antwerp 288 287 289 248 275 248 232

Amsterdam 380 364 384 433 420 377 289


Valencia 246 165 170 187 182 135

Madrid 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

27

TABLE 2 (Cont )

1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

Florence 129 152 235 192 164 182

Milan 328 207 182 199 177 135

Naples 246 165 170 187 182 135

Leipzig 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

Vienna 129 152 235 192 164 182

Asia

Beijing 125 104 079

Lower Yangtze 078 217 179 115 078

Delhi 296 299 130

Bengal 139 083 084


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

28Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory











Food

Wheatoats Kg 3370 88 155 132

Maize Kg 3370 70 165

Beans Kg 1455 71 45

Meat (beefpork) Kg 2500 200 5 35 105

Butter Kg 7286 7 3

Other

Soap Kg 13 13 13


Candles Kg 13 13 13






RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

30Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES























































Nutrientsday


Maize 165 kg 1655 43


Meat 5 kg 34 3

Butter 3 kg 60 0

Total 1963 60

Non-food

Soap 13 kg

Linencotton 3m

Candles 13 kg

Lampoil 13 l

Fuel 20 million BTU

















1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

North America

Boston 166 289 384 415



Latin America

Potosi 183 182 175 171

Bogota 128 214 215 205


Mexico-rural 018 061 091 127 150 144 093


London 373 296 283 349 416 351 377


Antwerp 288 287 289 248 275 248 232

Amsterdam 380 364 384 433 420 377 289


Valencia 246 165 170 187 182 135

Madrid 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

27

TABLE 2 (Cont )

1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

Florence 129 152 235 192 164 182

Milan 328 207 182 199 177 135

Naples 246 165 170 187 182 135

Leipzig 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

Vienna 129 152 235 192 164 182

Asia

Beijing 125 104 079

Lower Yangtze 078 217 179 115 078

Delhi 296 299 130

Bengal 139 083 084


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

28Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory











Food

Wheatoats Kg 3370 88 155 132

Maize Kg 3370 70 165

Beans Kg 1455 71 45

Meat (beefpork) Kg 2500 200 5 35 105

Butter Kg 7286 7 3

Other

Soap Kg 13 13 13


Candles Kg 13 13 13






RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

30Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES













1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

North America

Boston 166 289 384 415



Latin America

Potosi 183 182 175 171

Bogota 128 214 215 205


Mexico-rural 018 061 091 127 150 144 093


London 373 296 283 349 416 351 377


Antwerp 288 287 289 248 275 248 232

Amsterdam 380 364 384 433 420 377 289


Valencia 246 165 170 187 182 135

Madrid 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

27

TABLE 2 (Cont )

1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

Florence 129 152 235 192 164 182

Milan 328 207 182 199 177 135

Naples 246 165 170 187 182 135

Leipzig 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

Vienna 129 152 235 192 164 182

Asia

Beijing 125 104 079

Lower Yangtze 078 217 179 115 078

Delhi 296 299 130

Bengal 139 083 084


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

28Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory











Food

Wheatoats Kg 3370 88 155 132

Maize Kg 3370 70 165

Beans Kg 1455 71 45

Meat (beefpork) Kg 2500 200 5 35 105

Butter Kg 7286 7 3

Other

Soap Kg 13 13 13


Candles Kg 13 13 13






RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

30Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES

TABLE 2 (Cont )

1500-49 1550-99 1600-49 1650-99 1700-49 1750-99 1800-49

Florence 129 152 235 192 164 182

Milan 328 207 182 199 177 135

Naples 246 165 170 187 182 135

Leipzig 199 177 171 165 139 099 073

Vienna 129 152 235 192 164 182

Asia

Beijing 125 104 079

Lower Yangtze 078 217 179 115 078

Delhi 296 299 130

Bengal 139 083 084


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

28Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory











Food

Wheatoats Kg 3370 88 155 132

Maize Kg 3370 70 165

Beans Kg 1455 71 45

Meat (beefpork) Kg 2500 200 5 35 105

Butter Kg 7286 7 3

Other

Soap Kg 13 13 13


Candles Kg 13 13 13






RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

30Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES











Food

Wheatoats Kg 3370 88 155 132

Maize Kg 3370 70 165

Beans Kg 1455 71 45

Meat (beefpork) Kg 2500 200 5 35 105

Butter Kg 7286 7 3

Other

Soap Kg 13 13 13


Candles Kg 13 13 13






RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

30Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES



15251574 076 322 189

15751624 120 110 267 164

16251674 236 302 176

16751724 295 146 180 303 118 384 148

17251774 295 145 178 299 118 384 129

17751820 947 220 240 158 186 148 331 071


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

31

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES

























15



















RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

34Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES






60

Istanbul (1) 53

Porto (1) 51

Gdansk (1) 48

Almaden (1) 48

Leipzig (1) 41

Beijing (1) 32

Canton (1) 30

Milan (1) 27

Kyoto (1) 25

Vienna (1) 24

Pune (3) 13

Calcutta (3) 11


PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

35







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES







































































































1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s

Argentina (1780s-1800s) 168 1710 1695





Peru 1630 1625


1614 1608 1593


1570 1580 1590

Bavaria 1671 1679 1673 1657 1655 1640 1642

France 1665 1673 1655 1660 164 1646 1648

Indonesia (1770s-1790s) 1574


Lombardy 1677 1683 1664 1661 1653 1645 1641

Russia 1646 1649 1644 1638 1639 1600

Saxony 1669 1652 1662 1664 1667 1658 1601 1597

PRE-IN

DEPENDENCE

SPANIS

HAMERIC

ANS

Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory

49

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES

TABLE 6 (Cont )

1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1800s 1830s 1840s


Sweden 1684 1694 1682 1674 1670 1678 1679 1680




1725 1720 1710 1685 1640 1635 1605

United States 1721 1721 1722 1725 1728 1729 1735 1722


RAFAELDOBADO-G

ONZAacuteLEZ

50Revista

deHistoria

Econom

icaJournalof

Iberianand

LatinAmerican

Econom

icHistory



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES



4 FINAL REMARKS












REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES








REFERENCES













































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES


































































































































1 INTRODUCTION











4 FINAL REMARKS

REFERENCES

Pre-Independence Spanish Americans - e-Archivo

Documents

Transcript of Pre-Independence Spanish Americans - e-Archivo