This erudite and masterful economic history uses a framework to document and explain what the author calls the long 20th C, a period from 1870 to 2010 which experienced extraordinary economic and material wealth for everyone (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), yet only partially delivered what should by now have been a utopia by any prior standards.
The period is chosen at its start the rate of economic growth rapidly increases, and for the first time, allows the population to escape from the Malthusian trap that was the lot of humans from prehistory, and certainly since the start of civilization. While before then the upsetting of our ape-evolved social hierarchies was the only way for individuals and groups to improve their lot by getting a larger share of resources, but by and large, elites controlled the social system in a variety of ways ensuring that most of the population remained poor and at the mercy of those elites. After 1870, the wealth rapidly improved for most of the population, although the inequality seemed to increase, except for 2 periods, most recently for the 30 years after WWII. However, since 2010, after the financial collapse of 2007, growth has returned to a slow, pre-1870 rate, and inequality has increased with a vengeance. The author uses the framework of Hayek (the market is all) and Polyani (other rights to wealth and status) is important to show how different political systems have managed their economies, with some moderate, but variable success. [ I well recall a British tv political show that at the beginning of the Thatcher era suggested that the government should stop trying to make teh population happier and focus on wealthier - a Hayekian ideal that was the start of the neoliberal in the US and Britain.] 2010 saw the end of any success of the neoliberal experiment, and populations have been turning back to authoritarian/fascist approaches, last seen between WWI and WWII, and what the socialist systems of the USSR and China evolved into.
DeLong has no answer for the why's of this history, nor any prescription to get societies moving forward toward a utopia again. [This is unlike Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century". DeLong wisely just provides a rich, beautifully written, economic history that could easily become a required reading, and rather than like many historians make historical events seem inevitable with hindsight, he acknowledges that how the twists and turns of history have resulted are not clear and that he may even be an imperfect historian as events overlap with his experiences.
For myself, I think that the struggle of individuals and groups to ascend our evolutionary-determined social pyramid explains some of why various systems resulted in wealth inequality, either stably or by revolution. Whatever the system, some will always do anything to ascend to teh top of the pyramid by whatever means they have - by force of arms, by a revolt of the masses, by wealth accumulation through commerce, and so forth.
My only niggle is that the editors missed some errors - most notable that it was Edward VIII, not VII who abdicated the British throne, and it seems that autocorrect has changed some words that I do not think teh author intended. Hopefully, a 2nd edition will fix any errors and language. But these are niggles in what is a superb book and highly recommended.
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Top reviews from other countries
Len
Excellent for understanding our prosperity as compared with that of our ancestors and progeny.
Reviewed in Canada on December 5, 2022
