Oded Galor, an esteemed economist known for his insights into economic history, dives into humanity's journey towards wealth and inequality. He explores the puzzling stagnation before the recent wealth boom and reflects on whether agriculture was indeed humanity's worst mistake. The conversation touches on how education played a pivotal role in escaping the Malthusian trap and the transformational impact of the Industrial Revolution in shaping economic standards. Galor's perspectives challenge traditional narratives and shed light on the roots of today's economic disparities.
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insights INSIGHT
Technological Progress Grew People Not Prosperity
For most of human history technological gains raised population, not living standards.
Malthusian forces converted innovation into more people rather than richer people.
insights INSIGHT
Industrial Takeoff Drove Global Divergence
Global inequality exploded after the 1800s as some societies took off earlier than others.
The escape from the Malthusian trap produced divergence in per capita incomes across regions.
insights INSIGHT
A Tipping Point From Slow Change To Rapid Growth
Gradual reinforcing cycles of population, technology, and adaptation produced a tipping point.
Once innovation required education, families traded quantity for quality and sustained growth began.
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If you take a moment to reflect on the economic condition of our species, you are likely to be puzzled over two mysteries.
One is the mystery of wealth: How is it that humanity has been able to generate such a dramatic increase in wealth (e.g. in access to food, transportation, and medical technology)?
The other is the mystery of inequality: Why is this wealth so unevenly distributed? Why are certain countries able to offer historically unprecedented standards of wealth to the majority of their population, while some countries still struggle with dire poverty?
There will be two On Humans -episodes dedicated to this topic. The first one focuses on the grand story of economic growth in human history, searching for an explanation for the recent boom in humanity’s overall wealth. This will be followed by another episode, which searches for the reasons behind the global inequalities that plague the modern world - and asks what to do about them.
In this first episode, Ilari and Prof Galor discuss:
The long stagnation: Why humans did not get much richer (or poorer) for many millennia
The modern growth regime: How the overall wealth in the world has increased dramatically but unevenly
Was agriculture the "worst mistake in human history"?
How and why did humans escape the Malthusian trap?
The surprising effects of the industrial revolution on education, child labour, and fertility
Names Mentioned
Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel)
Yuval Noah Harari (author of Sapiens)
David Graeber (co-author of Dawn of Everything)
Robert Solow (author of Growth Theory)
Daron Acemoglu (co-author of Why Nations Fail)
Thomas Piketty (author of Capital in the 21st Century)
Thomas Robert Malthus (British clergyman and economist, 1766-1834)
Terms Mentioned
Neolithic Revolution (i.e. the beginning of agriculture)
Phase transition (e.g. water heating gradually but reaching a “phase transition” at 100 degrees Celsius)
Potato blight (leading to the Irish Potato Famine, 1845-1852)
On Humans