If you haven't read Sapiens or books mentioned before, this could be a pretty good read - but if your already familiar with the topic to some extent (and my knowledge is modest), perhaps you should start with Diamond or Fukuyama instead. Had high expectations, and the book showed a lot of promise with a unified theory of growth. And some chapters were pretty interesting, particularly on how fertility and genetic diversity has evolved with relation to growth. Moreover there is a lot that it does not explain, that probably depends on the more mundane issues covered by more proximate theories of growth and some of the standard economic policy issues like the importance of avoiding and resolving crises. For example, why is the United States so much richer than Argentina? Or why did China take off when it did but Brazil did not? Or even just variations in income within regions. Oded Galor’sattempt to unify economic theory is impressive and insightful. ” —Will Hutton, The Guardian

A] sweeping overview of cultural, technological and educational forces…Its breadth and ambition are reminiscent of Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel and Harari’s Sapiens. ”— Financial Times It explores how ancient factors like geography, culture and diversity impact today’s wealth inequality… Uses entertaining narratives to explain how this works.” — Forbes

Finally, the fourth underlying story is the one that Galor’s own research has advanced and the idea that is the most intriguing but frankly also feels the most speculative to me. Specifically he points out that migratory distance from Africa is closely related to population diversity—which is very high in Ethiopia but very low in Bolivia because of the “serial founder effect”. He argues that diversity has a plus (lots of ideas from combining different perspectives) and a minus (clashing) and that this leads to an inverted U-shaped relationship between population diversity and various economic outcomes like per capita income.

A wildly ambitious attempt to do for economics what Newton, Darwin, or Einstein did for their fields: develop a theory that explains almost everything.An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork, the boldest possible attempt to write the economic history of humanity.”— The New Statesman Not only a succinct, unified theory of economic growth since modern humans evolved, but also an engaging and optimistic answer to anyone who thinks that poverty and inequality will always be with us .”— Ian Morris, Stanford University’s Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor in Classics and author of The Measure of Civilization Astounding in scope and insight, The Journey of Humanity provides a captivating and revelatory account of the deepest currents that have shaped human history and the keys to the betterment of our species.”— NourielRoubini, Professor Emeritus, NYU, and authorof Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of FinanceUnparalleled in its scope and ambition…All readers will learn something, and many will find the book fascinating. ’— The Washington Post Galor is unable to move away from his time and his world. When he talks about technology, he does not differentiate between types; when he talks about education he is only thinking of the current (and A very determined) pattern; and a long etcetera. Please, how can you reduce the increase in schooling and the disappearance of the gender gap only to decimononic industrialists? What about the political revolutionary process, what about the weakening of religious power, what about ideologies...? Please, Galor, Marxists advocated the kind of education you say was only defended by industrialists! Obviously you don't know that... And, do you really think that legislation and the New States didn't play a fundamental role? If you aren't lying consciously, you have been driven mad. I understand know why only economists clap their hands. You are saying, basically, that businessmen are the saviors of humanity. If you had said the same about proletarians, kings or peasants, i would have critized it too.

An optimist’s guide to the future … Oded Galor’s ‘Sapiens’-like history of civilisation predicts a happy ending for humanity.” ―TheGuardian A masterful sweep through the human odyssey...if you liked Sapiens, you'll love this." -- Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins In The Journey Of Humanity, Oded Galor argues that climate policy should not be restricted to cutting carbon but should also involve ‘pushing hard for gender equality, access to education and the availability of contraceptives, to drive forward the decline in fertility.’ India will do well to heed that advice.” —The New Indian Express It seems that, for him, human life is mere Darwinism of competition and struggle where we have (almost all) reached total perfection. For him, life is just economics and technology (and a strange scientific delusion about biological variety related to progress). All is about reproduction, money and commodities. That's all, People in the past were miserable and bitter ("indistinguishable from a squirrel", in his words...but since the INdustrial Revolution, happiness and completennes has arrived. And he is going to tell us how it is possible and why some territories haven't (still) reach this utopy. Oded Galor staat aan de basis van de Unified Growth Theory die unieke factoren beschrijft die ervoor gezorgd hebben dat sommige landen een ongekende economische groei hebben doorgemaakt en andere landen juist niet. Centraal in deze theorie staat het uitgangspunt dat de economische groei, startende met de Industriële Revolutie, leidde tot een val in geboortecijfers omdat ouders - dankzij het groeiende belang van onderwijs - hun schaarse tijd en mogelijkheden aan enkele kinderen moesten verdelen, die tegelijkertijd met de groei in welvaart, steeds een grotere kans hadden om hun volwassen leeftijd te bereiken.

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The USA today comes out as the best place to live! The GDP weighting here must have an outsized effect. The author is clear that no one factor is determinate but that they have an cosiderible effect, even now. He states that about a quarter of average income per Capita is due to this diversity, with local climate 20%, diesese prevelance 7%, ethno-cultural reasons 20%, and poltical institutions 10% being the other top drivers. So it's a huge effect if proved true. Sweeping overview of cultural, technological, and educational forces that let countries break out of the poverty trap and become wealthy.Its breadth and ambition are reminiscent of Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steeland Harari’s Sapiens.”— Financial Times Completely brilliant and utterly original...a book for our epoch." -- Jon Snow, former presenter Channel 4 News The explanation of the takeoff into sustained growth is a little bit less satisfying, but that’s partly what happens when you only have one first sustained takeoff—and it happens at a time when the world is globally connected so you don’t have the (somewhat) independent data points you have for studying other issues. Galor argues was a situation where small changes can lead to a large change—which he analogizes to “bifurcation theory” in mathematics. Brilliantly weaves the threads of global economic history. A tour de force! ” —Dani Rodrik, author of Straight Talk on Trade

He often highlights that nothing bad could happen to this utopy if we go on ahead, without asking ourselves anything (!), the unstoppable way chosen by entrepeneurs, banks and industrialists. According to him progress will always bring more democracy (which one? China will soon be a democracy) and no matter if we have suffered colonization or wars (he forgets more than one hundred conflicts) because progress has brought us more comfort. That's all, no more questioning. We have the big civilisations first in water based areas. Homogenous civilisations. Control, stability. Europe for example could only thrive much later with better technology as competition drove growth and sutible differences in political institutions, coupled with fewer though better educated children, allowed for the escape from the poverty trap. Because it was now rational to invest in children’s education rather than get them working, child labour fell away improvements since we walked out of Africa, yet not pet person until recently. Humanity was gripped in the Mathulsean poverty trap until recent centuries.Don't get us wrong. It is not that something in his approach to economic development is not true (although there are things that a historian would never accept), it is that the perspective is scientific, ahistorical, anti-philosophical, uncritical... It looks like political propaganda, politically correct...aiming at understanding the whole with broken toys. In a captivating journey from the dawn of human existence to the present, world-renowned economist and thinker Oded Galor offers an intriguing solution to two of humanity's great mysteries. Galor’s policy argument instead is that “As the great cogs that have governed the journey of humanity continue to turn, measures that enhance future orientation, education and innovation, along with gender equality, pluralism and respect for difference, hold the key for universal prosperity.” It’s hard to argue with this—and most of these are good in their own right even if they’re not key to growth. Moreover most of them are actually emphasized by international institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (at least today). In short, the entire book is flooded with a series of a priori (and general historical ignorance) that is only saved because, in the second part, at least comments certain anecdotal facts. True facts (in part), well known to historians (by the way). The thing is that, even here, they are a kind of puzzle that he makes fit as he wants within the utopian logic from which he started from the outset. A book of this nature relies on fortuitous reversals that might make sense ex post but how sure are we? For example, Europe’s geography led to many competition states and China’s to a single unified state, the later was better for the economy through 1500 but the former was better after. Yes, there’s a decent story. But am I sure? Of course not.