The declining importance of natural resources: lessons from agricultural land

During the 20th Century a substantial decline in the economic importance of natural resources, especially farm land, has occurred. Views expressed by Schultz on the declining importance of land are emphasized. Grain yields in the United States were unchanged from 1800 to about 1940, but since then have increased dramatically. Increases in labor productivity occurred much earlier, starting in the early 19th Century and increasing much more rapidly than did land productivity.