Tracing Sustainability in the Long Run: Genuine Savings Estimates 1850–2018

We introduce a new database of historical Genuine Savings (GS), an indicator of sustainable development promoted by theWorld Bank and widely used in contemporary economic research. GS derives from the theoretical work on wealth accounting, and addresses shortcomings in conventional metrics of economic development by incorporating broader measures of saving and investment, including human capital (education), and natural resource depletion. Its value as an indicator is determined by its ability to be used to predict future well-being. This article provides consistent historical estimates of GS since 1850 for 25 countries to enhance, complement, and contextualise the work of theWorld Bank, scholars and consultants.