The Birth of Plenty - How the Prospensity of the Modern World was Created

A bold new look at the continuing era of prosperity - how we got here, and where we could be headed. Why didn't the Florentines invent the steam engines and flying machines that Da Vinci sketched? What kept the master metallurgists of ancient Rome from discovering electricity? The Birth of Plenty takes a fascinating new look at the key conditions that had to be in place before world economic growth - and the technological progress underlying it - could occur, why those pathways are still absent in many parts of today's world, and what must be done before true, universal prosperity can become a reality. Not long after 1820, prosperity began flowing in an ever increasing torrent; with each successive generation, the life of the son became observably more comfortable, informed, and predictable than that of the father. This book will examine the nature, causes, and consequences of this transformation...