ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book considers growing pessimistic view of British industrialisation, throwing doubt on Floud Roderick, Kenneth W. Wachter and Annabel Gregory's more optimistic case for rising living standards before 1820. Economic historians have argued that average nutritional status proxies a country's average standard of living. The average height of a population is a measure of economic welfare because height is sensitive to food intake and health which are themselves a function of income. The book explores height data to contribute to the debate in Canadian economic history over the growth performance of the economy over the 1870-1900 period. It discusses data on the weight of new-born children to measure whether the stress caused by famine in 1845-1849 had a short or long-term impact on Irish health, life chances and productivity.
