How Much Progress Has the World Made Over the Course of Our Lives?

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Charles Canney: How much progress has the world made to what's being a better place over the course of our lifetimes? Our lifetimes. There is a long way to go and a fair amount progress was made before our lifetimes but I think probably if I choose one single measure, what the number of children who died before the age of five must have gone down by more than three quarters. If you just want one measure of progress, it is parents not having to bury one of their children in most of the world.

Charles Kenny is a writer-researcher and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Previously, he spent fifteen years as an economist at the World Bank. His books include The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease and The Upside of Down: Why the Rise of the Rest is Good for the West.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Charles Kenny discuss why development aid is more effective than its critics claim; why it is easier to solve "stuff" problems than it is to solve "non-stuff" problems; and why effective altruists need to start thinking bigger.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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