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Our quiz this month is in keeping with our story about long, global economic cycles a measure devised by economist William D. Nordhaus.

1. 50 hours
2. 6 hours
3. Less than 1 second

Check your answer!

Of course, the answer is number 3: less than one second, but it is hard to conceive of a time when light was so valuable that an ancient Babylonian had to work more than 50 hours to pay for an hour of dim illumination from a sesame-oil lamp. By the 1800s, light from a tallow candle cost six hours of labor. This gives us a new appreciation of candelabras. Today, the intense light of a compact fluorescent bulb costs less than a second of labor.

Click here to read the article by professor Nordhaus where he explains the use of his “hour of light” measurement, titled Do real-output and real-wage measures capture reality? The history of lighting suggests not.