The poorer is a family, the greater is the proportion of the total outgo which must be used for food... The proportion of the outgo used for food, other things being equal, is the best measure of the material standard of living of a population.

He founded at Dresden the first Mortgage Insurance Society (Hypotheken-Versicherungsgesellschaft) and as a result of the success of his work was summoned in 1860 to Berlin as director of the statistical department in succession to Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Dieterici. L. Biography
Ernst was born in Dresden in 1821.