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From: <>
Subject: [NYSUFFOL] Material Progress Over the Past Millennium
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 11:53:21 EST

Dear Suffolk-Rootsers, etc.,


For a detailed comparison between living conditions now and living conditions
in much earlier times, I recommend an article, "Material Progress Over the
Past Millennium" by E. Calvin Beisner in the November issue of THE FREEMAN
(published by the Foundation for Economic Education, FEE, located in the
Hamlet of Irvington-on-the-Hudson, Town of Greenburg, Westchester County, New
York State).

The article begins ... Reginald Labbe, an English farmer better off than most
in his time, died in 1293. His will listed the following possessions:

. one cow and one calf

. two sheep and three lambs

. three hens

. a bushel and a half (about 90 pounds) of wheat

. a seam (about 400 pounds) of barley

. a seam and a half of fodder for cattle

. a seam of mixed grain

. clothing comprising a hood, a tunic, and a tabard (a short, heavy cape of
coarse cloth)

. a bolster (a long, narrow pillow or cushion)

. a rug (used as a blanket)

. two sheets

. a tripod or trivet (for cooking food over a fire)


Like most English farmers of the time, he had used tools (probably little
more than a hoe and a scythe) belonging to his landlord—which meant, too,
that he owned neither land nor dwelling. He had no money. The money value of
his estate in his day was figured at 33 shillings 8 pence (1 pound 73 pence),
or about $2.75 at today’s exchange rate. But of course in his day a shilling
bought a great deal more than it does now, after seven centuries of inflation.

What would his possessions have been worth had he died today?


For the answer to that question as well as an informed discussion of how life
conditions have changed between then and now, you can access the complete
article at:

http://www.fee.org/freeman/99/9911/beisner.html


The author of this article, E. Calvin Beisner is associate professor of
interdisciplinary studies at Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and
the author of Prosperity and Poverty: The Compassionate Use of Resources in a
World of Scarcity and several other books applying Christian theology and
ethics to political economy


Regards,

Walter Greenspan

This thread:

• [NYSUFFOL] Material Progress Over the Past Millennium by <>

  • [NYSUFFOL] Re: [LI-Rooters] Re:Material Progress Over the Past Millennium by Norris <>
  • [NYSUFFOL] Re:Material Progress Over the Past Millennium by "Edward Smith" <>