A radically uplifting account of our species' progress, from one of the world's pre-eminent thinkers - with breakthrough insights into the power of diversity and our capacity to tackle climate change.
'Completely brilliant and utterly original ... a book for our epoch' Jon Snow, former presenter Channel 4 News
'There will be inevitable comparisons with Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens ... If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is' Guardian
'Its breadth and ambition are reminiscent of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel' Financial Times
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What are the keys to human progress?
Why are living standards so unequal around the world?
How might we all thrive and survive?
In The Journey of Humanity, Oded Galor offers a revelatory explanation of how we became, only very recently, the unique species to have escaped a life of subsistence poverty, enjoying previously unthinkable wealth and longevity. He reveals why this process has been so unequal around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today. He shows why so many of our efforts to improve lives have failed and how they might succeed.
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'A wildly ambitious attempt to do for economics what Newton, Darwin or Einstein did for their fields: develop a theory that explains almost everything ... An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork' Simon Kuper, New Statesman
'A masterful sweep through the human odyssey ... if you liked Sapiens, you'll love this' Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins
'Unparalleled in its scope and ambition' Washington Post
Oded Galor is Herbert H. Goldberger Professor of Economics at Brown University and the founding thinker behind Unified Growth Theory, which seeks to uncover the fundamental causes of development, prosperity and inequality over the entire span of human history. He has shared the insights of his lifetime's work in this field at some of the most prestigious lectures around the globe and has now distilled those discoveries into The Journey of Humanity, which is being published in twenty-eight languages worldwide.
Title: The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality
Author: Galor, Oded
ISBN: 9781847926913
Binding:
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Publication Date: 2022-04-07
Number of Pages: 304
Weight: 0.5702 kg
There will be inevitable comparisons with Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens ... If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is * Guardian *
A wildly ambitious attempt to do for economics what Newton, Darwin or Einstein did for their fields: develop a theory that explains almost everything ... an inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork, the boldest possible attempt to write the economic history of humanity -- Simon Kuper * New Statesman *
Journey of Humanity... is only 300 pages long, which considering it covers thousands of years of global history... is surprisingly concise. Its breadth and ambition are reminiscent of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel...and Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens -- John Gapper * Financial Times *
Unparalleled in its scope and ambition ... All readers will learn something, and many will find the book fascinating -- James Kwak * Washington Post *
Deeply rewarding and fascinating -- Jay Elwes * Spectator *
A completely brilliant and utterly original account of humanity's transit from crude beginnings to a deeply divided planet. A vastly readable insight into why our world is as it is. A book for our epoch -- Jon Snow, former presenter of Channel 4 News
A masterful sweep through the human odyssey, from the origin of our species to the making of the modern world, that answers the ultimate mystery: what accounts for the staggering inequality in the wealth of nations today? Exquisite, eloquent and effortlessly erudite - if you liked Sapiens, you'll love this -- Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins
Astounding in scope and insight, The Journey of Humanity provides a captivating and revelatory account of the deepest currents that have shaped human history, and the keys to the betterment of our species -- Nouriel Roubini, author of Crisis Economics
I am in awe of Oded Galor's attempts to explain inequality today as a consequence of such profound forces. A remarkable contribution to our understanding of this mammoth dilemma -- Jim O'Neill, author of The Growth Map
A wonderfully clear-sighted perspective on progress, past and future, which is essential to tackling today's big challenges - potentially catastrophic climate change and inequality -- Diane Coyle, former Vice Chair of the BBC Trust, author of Cogs and Monsters
Big Science at its best ... Galor's erudition and creativity are remarkable -- Prof. Steven N. Durlauf, University of Chicago, on Unified Growth Theory
An engaging and optimistic answer to anyone who thinks that poverty and inequality will always be with us -- Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules - For Now
Galor's project is breathtakingly ambitious -- Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics
A magisterial account of the evolution of human civilization from its prehistoric origins into the present day. It's a page-turner, a suspense-filled thriller full of surprises, mind-bending puzzles and profound insights -- Glenn C. Loury, author of The Anatomy of Racial Inequality
In lucid, accessible prose, Galor ingeniously traces obscure influences over centuries ... This engrossing history reveals that subtle causes can have astounding effects * Publishers Weekly *
A tour de force. This deeply argued book brilliantly weaves the threads of global economic history to deconstruct the rich tapestry that is the modern world -- Dani Rodrik, author of Straight Talk on Trade
One of the hottest books of the year ahead * Irish Independent *
Incredibly wide-ranging and detailed historical and even anthropological examination of the myriad factors that have brought success and failure to nations ... Lively and learned -- Tim Hazledine, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Auckland * Inerest.co.nz *
The Journey of Humanity is a good summary of growth theories and is an elegantly written and accessible book -- Paschal Donohoe * Irish Times *
Enjoyable and intriguing -- Steven Poole * Guardian *