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Yes, and since we remain under indirect neo-colonial rule today, also based on a brutal mode of extractivism, there's a case to be made that GDP should be replaced with a measure that (among many other needed improvements) would foreground the depletion of non-renewable resources, in part to better unveil the extent of the looting... Short articles below make this case: Cheers, Patrick (Johannesburg) * https://monthlyreview.org/2017/09/01/africa-rising-in-retreat/ * http://triplecrisis.com/can-natural-capital-accounting-come-of-age-in-africa-part-1/ * http://triplecrisis.com/can-natural-capital-accounting-come-of-age-in-africa-part-2/ On 2017/12/08 05:22 AM, Judith Watson wrote: > Hi Hillary > > In 1950 most of Africa was under direct colonial rule. The GDP > generated in Africa by Africans was credited to European corporations > headquartered in London, Paris etc. This would seem to be the most > obvious explanation of why GDP figures could differ widely and why > great care is needed in interpretation. > > Judith > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* A forum for critical and radical geographers > [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Hillary Shaw > [[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* 08 December 2017 10:10 > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: GDP growth by continent 1948-2016 > > You're absolutely right. The raw figures were from the 1950 > Encyclopedia Britannica no less. But, indeed, they are internally > inconsistent and if Africa had a population of around 210m in 1948, > and a total GDP then of 7,083m US$, ($7bn) simple division imnplies a > GDPper capita of $34, not $141, and nominal GDP growth per capita is > then 53.2x, comparable with Asia. > > But then I dug some more and found..... > > Entire "Third World" GDP 1950 = 338 bn $, in 1960 $ (Bairloch, quotedf > in Wikipedia) > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_by_past_GDP_(PPP) > > US$ inflation 1948 - 1960 = 25% > https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100&year1=194801&year2=196010 > > So total "Third World" GDP in 1948$ in 1948 would have been around US$ > 270 billion. Maybe Africa accounted for 25% of this, giving the > continent a 1948 total GDP of US$ 70 billion. But the Encyclopedia > Britannica only gives this region a total nominal GDP of around US$ 80 > bn, not $270bn, in 1948. > > So many thanks for pointing out this inconsistency, can't takle any > figures for granted, ......but what was the African total GDP in > 1948? US$ 34 per capita, the fig implied from Encyclopedia > Britannica, seems too low, given the individual natiopn figs I've > seen. But if we up the African figure, the Asian fig etc has to be > raised too. Puzzled? > > Dr Hillary J. Shaw > /www.fooddeserts.org/ > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Gordon,IR <[log in to unmask]> > To: hillshaw <[log in to unmask]> > Cc: CRIT-GEOG-FORUM <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Fri, Dec 8, 2017 9:21 am > Subject: Re: GDP growth by continent 1948-2016 > > Surely there is something wildly wrong with the African figures that > Hillary cites. The continent's population has grown by a factor of > about 5 over this period, rather than 25 - starting from something > more like 250 rather than 50 million. If the GDP figures are right, > the continent would have started off in 1948 much further behind in > per capita terms than he suggests, and has just not managed to catch > up rather than falling dramatically further behind ? > I > Ian Gordon > > On 6 Dec 2017 9:51 am, Hillary Shaw > <[log in to unmask] > <redir.aspx?REF=o7B1tNldbekVoYeILeucbbPlsrEsY30ImcwWroXetgbnBqcoJT7VCAFtYWlsdG86cmVxdWVzdEBKSVNDTUFJTC5BQy5VSw..>> > wrote: > > GDP growth by continent, 1948-2016, by total and per capita. > > The values are all nominal for both years, but all in US$, so > comparisons cross-year are possible. > > Africa's per capita growth was very low. If only African per > capita GDP had grown as fast as Asia or even S America, we'd be > seeing a very different global economy now. In 1948 African per > capita GDP was way ahead of Asia and almost equal to S America. > > *_GDP by continent, US$ millions, total (nominal values)_* > > Africa > > Asia > > Europe^1 > > North > America > > South > America^2 > > Oceania > 1948 > > 7,083 > > 48,844 > > 173,612 > > 235,038 > > 22,290 > > 8,011 > 2016 > > 2,190,000 > > 27,222,000 > > 19,070,000 > > 21,260,000 > > 3,940,000 > > 1,468,000 > Growth > > 309.2x > > 557.3x > > 109.8x > > 90.5x > > 176.8x > > 183.2x > > ^1 Includes USSR > ^2 Includes Caribbean. > *_GDP by continent, US$, per capita (nominal values)_* > > Africa > > Asia > > Europe^1 > > North > America > > South > America^2 > > Oceania > 1948 > > 141 > > 84 > > 323 > > 1,474 > > 152 > > 835 > 2016 > > 1,809 > > 5,635 > > 21,767 > > 41,830 > > 8,520 > > 35,087 > Growth > > 12.8x > > 67.1x > > 67.4x > > 28.4x > > 56.1x > > 42.0x > > ^1 Includes USSR. The continent was still recovering from war in 1948. > ^2 Includes Caribbean. > > Some info on general economic trends, prices etc, > > http://fooddeserts.org/images/000price.htm > <redir.aspx?REF=4iJvKlxVU0XBUMPQhXvfYRhDe2KbWv5RvRy6dglYGV_nBqcoJT7VCAFodHRwOi8vZm9vZGRlc2VydHMub3JnL2ltYWdlcy8wMDBwcmljZS5odG0.> > http://fooddeserts.org/images/000priceCurrency.htm > <redir.aspx?REF=cyb3XZesf7zICc58_jYfRHWjbj7PrNFkRsaTV_8N0TPnBqcoJT7VCAFodHRwOi8vZm9vZGRlc2VydHMub3JnL2ltYWdlcy8wMDBwcmljZUN1cnJlbmN5Lmh0bQ..> > > Dr Hillary J. Shaw > Director and Senior Research Consultant > Shaw Food Solutions > Newport > Shropshire > TF10 8QE > /www.fooddeserts.org > <redir.aspx?REF=3Y_YSsyAj6BkaMlDTpySMbxSj2IWMhMSloAxZM_-JH7nBqcoJT7VCAFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmZvb2RkZXNlcnRzLm9yZw..>/ > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > This email has been scanned by MessageLabs' Email Security System > on behalf of the University of Brighton. For more information see: > https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/computing/Pages/Email/spam.aspx > > ___________________________________________________________ > This email has been scanned by MessageLabs' Email Security System > on behalf of the University of Brighton. For more information see: > https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/computing/Pages/Email/spam.aspx