The Rational Optimist

The Rational Optimist – Matt Ridley

For much of history, and in much of today’s media, the future is described as bleak: overpopulation, poverty, environmental collapse and disaster are always just around the corner. Science writer Matt Ridley, author of Genome and The Red Queen, takes the opposite view. In The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, he argues that human life has improved dramatically over the long run and is likely to continue improving.

Ridley’s central argument is that the key to human progress is exchange. Around a hundred thousand years ago, he suggests, humans began trading goods and ideas with one another, and this habit allowed specialization, the division of labor and the accumulation of collective knowledge. When ideas meet and mate, as he puts it, innovation follows. Over time, trade and specialization have made people richer, healthier and better fed, and have enabled them to live longer and more varied lives.

The book traces this story through history, from Stone Age trading networks and the rise of farming and cities to the commercial societies of the ancient world, the industrial revolution and the modern global economy. Ridley argues that periods of decline have often followed when trade was cut off or when rulers stifled innovation.

In the final chapters, he challenges pessimistic predictions about issues such as population, poverty in Africa, and climate change, arguing that human ingenuity and markets can solve many problems.

Provocative and entertaining, The Rational Optimist is a stimulating read for those interested in economics and history. Its views on climate change and markets are contested by many scientists and economists.