The Improving State of the World: Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet

by Indur M. Goklany

Many people believe that globalization and its key components have made matters worse for humanity and the environment. Indur M. Goklany exposes this as a complete myth and challenges people to consider how much worse the world would be without them. Goklany confronts foes of globalization and demonstrates that economic growth, technological change and free trade helped to power a cycle of progress that in the last two centuries enabled unprecedented improvements in every objective measurement of human well-being. His analysis is accompanied by an extensive range of charts, historical data, and statistics. The Improving State of the World represents an important contribution to the environment versus development debate and collects in one volume for the first time the long-term trends in a broad array of the most significant indicators of human and environmental well-being, and their dependence on economic development and technological change. While noting that the record is more complicated on the environmental front, the author shows how innovation, increased affluence and key institutions have combined to address environmental degradation. The author notes that the early stages of development can indeed cause environmental problems, but additional development creates greater wealth allowing societies to create and afford cleaner technologies. Development becomes the solution rather than the problem. He maintains that restricting globalization would therefore hamper further progress in improving human and environmental well-being, and surmounting future environmental or natural resource limits to growth. **Key points from the book** * The rates at which hunger and malnutrition have been decreasing in India since 1950 and in China since 1961 are striking. By 2002 China's food supply had gone up 80%, and India's increased by 50%. Overall, these types of increases in the food supply have reduced chronic undernourishment in developing countries from 37 to 17%, despite an overall 83% growth in their populations. * Economic freedom has increased in 102 of the 113 countries for which data is available for both 1990 and 2000. * Disability in the older population of such developed countries as the U.S., Canada, France, are in decline. In the U.S. for example, the disability rate dropped 1.3 % each year between 1982 and 1994 for persons aged 65 and over. * Between 1970 and the early 2000s, the global illiteracy rated dropped from 46 to 18 percent. * Much of the improvements in the United States for the air and water quality indicators preceded the enactment of stringent national environmental laws as the Clean Air Act of 1970, Clean Water Act of 1972, and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. * Between 1897-1902 and 1992-1994, the U.S. retail prices of flour, bacon and potatoes relative to per capita income, dropped by 92, 85, and 82 percent respectively. And, the real global price of food commodities has declined 75% since 1950.

Genres: Economics, Science

450 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2006

Reviews

[David R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is packed full of data largely from the World Bank and the WHO and makes a compelling case for the eponymous contention. Goklany, an Obama appointee at Interior covers topics ranging from public health and food supply to climate change and demonstrates the strong positive correlation between economic growth and improved quality of life, on a host of levels, and calls attention to gains in the third world. On the down side this is academic material and is as dry as dust.

[Koen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The message of the book I feel is totally right. We are doing better than ever! The end of the world isnt upon us, more and more people are doing better. The book itself was hard to read though....

[Paul Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Environmentalists would have you believe the earth is falling apart and humans are the cause. In fact, humans are the only species capable of thinking about conservation and actually doing something about it. This book quantifies the good things that humans have done to improve life and the environment at the same time.

[Rocky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next time you hear someone talking about how great things used to be, and how awful they are now (or if you say those things yourself) have them read this. The World is a vastly better place now, and this book provides the evidence to support such a contention.

[Beth Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A companion volume to Julian Simon's Ultimate Resource 2 making a very strong case for the proposition that Wealth is not the problem: Wealth is the solution. The world is improving, and the conditions which promote this improvement include the free market and man's exploitation of resources.