Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future

Johan Norberg wrote one of the clearest accounts of the 2007 financial meltdown and, after that dismal tale, he’s back with a more uplifting story. Politicians and partisans constantly tell us that things are worse than ever: more violence, more poverty, etc. Progress goes about showing that, in just about every important metric, the world is a measurably better place than it ever has been in the past. Fewer people die in wars, the world is cleaner, we are better educated, live longer, and the percentage of people in extreme poverty has dropped by double digits. So everyone just calm the hell down.