Are you a Cornucopian?

If we look at popular media and listen to interest groups we could easily become dismayed at the economic problems occurring especially from the European debt crisis. However after listening to Matt Ridley's audiobook The Rational Optimist I am reminded that we are living in the best times ever for the majority of the people on the planet. Short term economics issues and problems aside, the majority of people now have a better standard of living than any other time in history. His argument that this has come from the unique human trait of specialisation and trade is solidly backed up by a range of research spanning the entire span of human history.

The main theme of the Ridley's book is that trade is the driving force of human advancement by encouraging specialisation. For those unfamiliar with Matt Ridley I can tell you that he comes highly recommended by Charlie Munger. In fact Munger recommends Ridley's earlier book Genome in his list of recommended readings found within Poor Charlie's Almanac. Having seen one of Ridley's talks online at TED videos I finally decided to check out this work.

As I listened to his work I am reminded of other books I've read before along similar themes. In particular Paul Zane Pilzer's ideas come to mind. If I compare Ridley and Pilzer side by side then Ridley believes the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas while Pilzer believes human progress was due to increases in the speed in which individuals could communication. Both authors are basically saying the same thing - that as a species humans have progressed beyond other forms of life because increases in speed and access of communication has allowed the sharing of ideas promoting economic advancement.

Bjørn Lomborg is the another author whose work I believe Ridley was highly influenced by. Although Lomborg's book The Skeptical Environmentalist is quite detailed with numerous graphs and charts it is well worth the effort as it powerfully dispels any notion that humans today are worse off than our ancestors. Lomborg shows with detailed research the improvements in: Life expectancy and health, Food and hunger; Prosperity; pollution, just to name a few.

I later realised why Ridley's arguments sounded so similar to Lomborg's - Ridley actually writes a recommendation for Lomborg's book which is found on the book cover! "The Skeptical Environmentalist should be read by every environmentalist, so that the appalling errors of fact the environmental movement has made in the past are not repeated. A brilliant and powerful book." Matt Ridley - Author of Genome.

So is The Rational Optimist a worthwhile read? Even if you have read the works of other rational optimists and don't wish to reread similar theories, his ideas on oils vs biofuels is compelling enough to give your time. The original founder of the Cornucopian theory Julian Simon would be proud of this work. I am still amused whenever I see in the newspapers an article about the impending end of life as we know it - global warming, peak oil approaching, and so forth. I found Ridley's work very refreshing and highly recommend it, especially those dooms day alarmist that still exist out there.