>So how much has material wealth grown in the past century?
>
>If you do need a single number, the Boskin Commission's number, that
>inflation has been overstated and real growth understated by between
>1 and 1.5 percent per year, is as good as any. Splitting the
>difference, applying it to the past century, and taking into account
>the decline in the number of hours worked per year all produce an
>estimate that American real GDP and real incomes per work hour have
>grown not sixfold but thirtyfold over the past century.
Brad, does that mean we're thirty times happier than our ancestors?
Doug