You asked for it :-) ...
Bear in mind that these are only preliminary estimates...
The series come in three flavors. My "preferred" version; a version that rejects Michael Boskin and company's conclusions about how the invention of new goods and new types of goods have added to material wealth; and a series that abandons any attempt to track pre-1500 movements in income per capita and just assumes that pre-1500 per capita output was constant.
The estimates are ppp-concept international prices 1990 dollar estimates. That is, they use:
--purchasing power parities rather than real exchange rates to translate amounts from one currency to another
--relative prices that are an average of those prevailing worldwide (rather than relative prices in a rich country like the United States) to value different kinds of production
--are scaled to set U.S. output in 1990 equal to its historical then-current-dollar level.
And note that these estimates have all the problems of GDP estimates--there are no deductions for damage to the ozone layer, and the production of thermonuclear weapons counts as a a plus...
I don't know what Wallerstein is thinking of. I suspect that he is generalizing from Africa, which he knows best--and where output has been at best near-stagnant for a generation--to the world as a whole...
Year Average World GDP per Capita ==== ============================
Year Preferred Ex-Boskin Constant pre-1500 ==== ========= ========= =================
-1000000
92
340
115
-300000
92
341
115
-25000
92
343
115
-10000
93
344
115
-8000
96
357
115
-5000
103
381
115
-4000
109
406
115
-3000
113
420
115
-2000
112
415
115
-1600
121
449
115
-1000
127
471
115
-800
143
530
115
-500
137
509
115
-400
130
483
115
-200
113
420
115
1
109
404
115
14
102
380
115
200
98
362
115
350
94
350
115
400
97
360
115
500
102
379
115
600
104
387
115
700
112
414
115
800
116
430
115
900
131
486
115
1000
133
494
115
1100
124
459
115
1200
104
386
115
1250
99
367
115
1300
89
331
115
1340
109
406
115
1400
128
476
115
1500
138
512
115
1600
141
524
140
1650
150
556
155
1700
164
607
172
1750
178
662
190
1800
195
722
210
1850
300
788
300
1875
429
948
429
1900
679
1263
679
1920
956
1550
956
1925
1108
1735
1108
1930
1134
1716
1134
1940
1356
1915
1356
1950
1622
2138
1622
1955
1968
2505
1968
1960
2270
2792
2270
1965
2736
3251
2736
1970
3282
3768
3282
1975
3714
4119
3714
1980
4231
4533
4231
1985
4634
4797
4634
1990
5204
5204
5204
1995
5840
5641
5840
TOTAL WORLD GDP (IN BILLIONS OF 1990 INTERNATIONAL DOLLARS)
-1000000
0.01
0.04
0.01
-300000
0.09
0.34
0.11
-25000
0.31
1.15
0.38
-10000
0.37
1.38
0.46
-8000
0.43
1.61
0.52
-5000
0.51
1.91
0.57
-4000
0.77
2.84
0.80
-3000
1.59
5.89
1.60
-2000
3.02
11.20
3.09
-1600
4.36
16.16
4.12
-1000
6.35
23.55
5.73
-800
9.72
36.05
7.79
-500
13.72
50.90
11.46
-400
16.02
59.44
14.09
-200
17.00
63.05
17.19
1
18.50
68.65
19.48
14
17.50
64.91
19.59
200
18.54
68.80
21.77
350
17.93
66.53
21.77
400
18.44
68.40
21.77
500
19.92
73.90
22.34
600
20.86
77.39
22.92
700
23.44
86.97
24.06
800
25.53
94.70
25.21
900
31.68
117.52
27.73
1000
35.31
131.00
30.36
1100
39.60
146.91
36.67
1200
37.44
138.90
41.25
1250
35.58
132.01
41.25
1300
32.09
119.06
41.25
1340
40.50
150.27
42.39
1400
44.92
166.64
40.10
1500
58.67
217.64
48.70
1600
77.01
285.70
76.41
1650
81.74
303.24
84.53
1700
99.80
370.26
104.67
1750
128.51
476.75
136.67
1800
175.24
650.11
189.00
1850
359.90
945.60
359.90
1875
568.08
1256.10
568.08
1900
1102.96
2052.38
1102.96
1920
1733.67
2810.15
1733.67
1925
2102.88
3293.03
2102.88
1930
2253.81
3409.69
2253.81
1940
3001.36
4237.90
3001.36
1950
4081.81
5379.21
4081.81
1955
5430.44
6913.80
5430.44
1960
6855.25
8431.84
6855.25
1965
9126.98
10845.34
9126.98
1970
12137.94
13934.06
12137.94
1975
15149.42
16801.40
15149.42
1980
18818.46
20162.78
18818.46
1985
22481.11
23270.25
22481.11
1990
27539.57
27539.57
27539.57
1995
33644.33
32503.40
33644.33
2000
41016.69
38281.97
41016.69
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