Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of countries by GDP (PPP) in the nineteenth century


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Participants agreed that that a topic along similar lines might be suitable for a stand-alone article, but there was a consensus that this topic in its current framing and with its current sources (or the lack thereof, leading inevitably to OR) should not be included in Wikipedia. Modussiccandi (talk) 09:00, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

List of countries by GDP (PPP) in the nineteenth century

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

All or most of the article appears to be original research and it seems unlikely it could ever achieve a standard of verifiability.

The vague sources cited at the top of the list section do not provide this data. It looks like it might be based on the "Maddison Project", but even when looking at the full documents there the numbers can't be found (which means they were somehow decided by editors), and the project itself says that its own data cannot be taken at face value (see link). The "Methodology" section of the article, especially the last paragraph, clearly reads as an explanation of the article's own original research.

Even if a properly sourced list is possible, it would require a completely rewritten and re-sourced article, which seems unlikely. As there are no precise and reliable records of GDPs in the 19th century, any such list would be necessarily incomplete and the data itself subject to academic debate, so I would question whether it belongs on Wikipedia at all. R Prazeres (talk) 18:22, 26 January 2023 (UTC) Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, – filelakeshoe (t / c) 🐱 20:41, 2 February 2023 (UTC) Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Daniel (talk) 21:48, 9 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: History, Economics,  and Lists. R Prazeres (talk) 18:22, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Delete all kinds of wrong with this article. There are some sources, most I find are estimates, mostly for the big powers at the time. Most of what we have now is OR and we'd have to blank the article. Oaktree b (talk) 00:23, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Comment -- This is potentially a valid topic but the detailed data relates to 1879/80 so that it should be List of countries by GDP (PPP) in 1880. The situation of countries in 1880 may be quite different from that in 1800, particularly where considerable industrialisation took place in the period.  Peterkingiron (talk) 18:51, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Delete for now: Potentially helpful and suitable list for an encyclopedia, but the sources just aren't there for Wikipedia to provide a definitive, scholarly answer. Why? I Ask (talk) 19:13, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep I just googled this subject because it was a genuine question I had for other research. If the sources are bad, remove them. Deletion is not cleanup. I think we can explain in the text the problems of calculating such a figure, which would explain why the list is rather short. CaptainEek Edits Ho Cap'n!⚓ 19:49, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * If the entirety of the sources are bad... then everything is unverifiable and unsuitable for mainspace. Deletion is not cleanup, but WP:TNT still applies. Why? I Ask (talk) 20:34, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Delete. One (problematic) number per country for an entire century? Really dubious. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:53, 10 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep per CaptainEek. NYC Guru (talk) 12:22, 14 February 2023 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.