Nivel de vida - History Lab https://historylab.es Fri, 20 May 2022 15:09:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Nivel de vida - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 Evolution of wheat prices in Early Modern Spain https://historylab.es/evolution-of-wheat-prices-in-early-modern-spain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=evolution-of-wheat-prices-in-early-modern-spain Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:46 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/evolucion-del-precio-del-trigo-en-la-espana-moderna/ Evolution of the behaviour of the price of wheat in the regional markets of Spain during the Modern Age that affected the standard of living of families

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]]> During the Modern Age, the availability of food was, to a large extent, a determining factor in the standard of living of the population. One of the great economic efforts for most families was the acquisition of the food necessary for survival, with cereals, especially wheat, and bread, accounting for between 65 and 70% of current expenditure. Because of its importance, the demand for wheat tended to be inelastic. Consequently, changes in its price marked the rise and fall of living standards. At the regional level, the behaviour of the price of wheat showed divergences depending on whether one lived in the centre or on the coast of the peninsula. While the price fluctuation was greater in the Meseta, the coastal areas, with their international trade routes, showed less variation. Thus, throughout the modern period, Barcelona and Valencia had lower prices than in Castilla la Nueva, Segovia or León. Periods of crisis were also important. In Castilla la Nueva, price volatility conditioned the market every 9.8 years; in Andalusia every 10.6 years; in Segovia every 14.1 years; in Navarre every 36.8 years; in Valencia every 38.4 years and in Barcelona every 69 years. Climatic disturbances also affected markets with less international trade capacity. However, from the beginning of the 16th century until the end of the 18th century, the common price tended to fall in parallel with the process of integration of the peninsular markets, a process which, although timid during the first two centuries of modernity, increased with the actions of the Enlightenment reformers.

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]]> Consumer basket in Seville (1521-1603) https://historylab.es/consumer-basket-in-seville-1521-1603/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=consumer-basket-in-seville-1521-1603 Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/cesta-de-consumo-en-sevilla-1521-1603/ Table showing the evolution of food consumption of an adult male in Seville. Rising rent prices had an impact on the lack of access to expensive calories (meat and fish)

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]]> The resource shows the evolution of an adult’s annual consumption of the basic products of the shopping basket in Seville between 1521 and 1603. Seville, the only port authorised to trade with America, was part of the general dynamics of the inflation processes that occurred between the mid-15th and early 16th centuries. As a result, access to foodstuffs could become more difficult and consumption could fall. Foodstuffs such as bread, chickpeas and cow products were the most commonly used. However, over time it was observed that the increase in bread intake reduced the consumption of meat and fish. On this occasion, the author explains the different consumption patterns by referring to the increase in the price of house rent between 1530 and 1555, which was 288% higher, and between 1555 and 1585, which was 205% more expensive; to the greater amount of money available and to changes in the relationship between supply and demand. Thus, with a lower purchasing power, and in general terms, the expensive calories, extracted from meat and fish, were replaced by cheap calories, such as bread, bacon, legumes and dried fruits.

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