A review by ozzyfeeney
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley

4.0

The central idea is conveyed well with the arch building up seamlessly from the dawn of the human species and growing it to its climax which is the human life today. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic when the scope of the lense is that wide but the book feels more like a book about the benefits of trade than that of human growth. Some issues are also skirted and avoided such as war, climate and Africa (although climate and Africa were indeed mentioned, the topics were merely skimmed compared to other topics such as Neolithic trade...) overall insightful but leaves one wanting for a better.