youNTIL 1700 The world economy is not really growing, it just stagnates. Global output has grown on average by 0.1% per year over the past 17 centuries, a rate that requires nearly a thousand years to double. Then the spinning Jennis started to spin and the steam engine started to blow. Between 1700 and 1820, the global growth was 0.5% per year. By the end of the 19th century, it had reached 1.9%. In the 20th century it averaged 2.8%, while production doubled every 25 years. Growth is not only the norm; it accelerates.