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The Economic History Of Light

The Economic History Of Light

 

The other day, I heard a repeat of an old Planet Money radio show episode on NPR about the history of light. Rather than just focus on the changes in technology over thousands of years, it really focused on the economic history of light. The story interviews a Yale economics professor who studied how much time a standardized lumen package of one day’s of labor would buy through thousands of years of history, from the ancient Babylonians animal fat candles to today’s LED lighting.

It is a very different way of looking at lighting than we typically do in our industry. The original episode ran in 2014, but it holds up well because it is primarily looking back at the history. It is a 20-minute radio episode and well worth the time. Some of the historical technologies discussed include tallow candles, whale oil, kerosene lamps, gas lamps, Edison electric lamps, and LED lamps. The full story can be downloaded and heard here.

 

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David Shiller
David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and President of Lighting Solution Development, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has co-chaired ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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