Measuring Up: A History of Living Standards in Mexico

摘要

In the ongoing and considerable debate about the history of living standards in modern Mexico, Moramay Lopez-Alonso's Measuring Up not only makes a significant contribution, it fundamentally alters the field by adding a substantial new methodology never before applied in Mexican history. As a consequence, nobody who studies the topic will be able to ignore this volume, which argues that measuring the average change in height of the population over time presents a better approximation of the change in living standards than prior methods, mostly real wage or per-capita GDP studies. Since improving the standard of living is purportedly a goal of the modern economy, economists, sociologists, political scientists and policy-makers, in addition to historians, will find this volume's methods and arguments to be a compelling addition to the literature.