O preço da crise: níveis de vida no Portugal seiscentista

Abstract

This article studies the evolution of the living standards in Portugal during the seventeenth century, from the analysis of two specific cases, the cities of Lisbon and Coimbra. To find this we used a Consumer Price Index and Wages of both skilled and unskilled workers. First, we briefly approach the political and economic characterization of Portugal and of the two cities that we studied in, and then we present the results of our research. Finally, we demonstrate that the living standards fell in both cities with a similar pattern, suggesting the market integration and locating Portugal between the group of European countries where this indicator fell during this century, opposing the lidding economies such as England and the Netherlands.