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256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 31, 2011
Despite counterclaims and hand wringing, things are getting better, everywhere. Rich countries may be getting richer faster than poor countries, and we may be unsure how to improve that situation, but poor countries and poor people aren’t stuck in the nightmare of an ever-growing and unsupportable population, living on bare subsistence. Instead, those countries with the lowest quality of life are making the fastest progress in improving it – across a range of measures including health, education, and civil and political liberties. The progress is the result of the global spread of technologies like vaccinations, and ideas like “you should send your daughter to school.” And Third World governments, alongside aid agencies and nonprofits, have played a vital role in extending the reach of these technologies and ideas.