It's Getting Better All the Time: 101 Greatest Trends of the Last 100 Years

by Stephen Moore, Julian L Simon, Julian L. Simon

Book Overview

There has been more material progress in the United States in the 20th Century than in the entire world in all previous centuries combined.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1882577965
• ISBN13: 9781882577965
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Cato Institute
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

For a change a factual and inspiring book in a world of negativity

Negative and disturbing news sells, but is it the truth? Frequently, news is positive when you look a long-term trends but positive news don't "sell newspapers". In a world filled with negative and disturbing news and events it's nice to come across uplifting and factual news. I hope that more Americans, overcome this morbid curiosity and start realizing that the world has lots of good news which is just not being reported due to fact that a lot of news doesn't have enough "shock factor" or enough "guts and glory" or "entertaining enough".

This book is the antidote to so much pessimism

Every four years we're told how civilization has fallen into ill-rebuke. The chattering classes continue to repeat the Marxist slogan that the poor have fallen behind while the idle rich have gotten richer by stealing from the poor. But this rare optimistic book knocks those arguments cold. As a civilization, Americans are healthier, smarter, wealthier, happier, than at any time in America or the world at any point in civilization. There is not such a thing as the so-called "good old days." Today is the good old days, as is the future. In this book, you will see that by any measurement, the American people have continued to make lasting and important changes. From inventions to wealth to health and education, we have made remarkable progress and should be proud that we have a civilization that has encouraged us to do so. And this book will provide the evidence needed to rebuke the annoying liberal noisemakers such as Michael Moore who continue to look to the welfare-states of Europe as the utopian view of the future. Michael Gordon

Truth is Stranger than Fiction

It is fashionable to bemoan the state of the world. The conventional wisdom is that global warming, Terrorism, drug abuse, crime, AIDS and all the rest of the crises threatening humanity lead us to the conclusion that the "good old days" were somehow better, safer and saner than today. But, if things are so bad why is infant mortality going down around the world? If things are on the edge of anarchy why are proportionately fewer of us hungry, or sick today than one hundred years ago. If things are going to hell in a handbasket why is our life expectancy steadily improving?These are inconvenient questions. The answers are tough on the prophets of doom.Luckily, the conventional wisdom is wrong. Stephen Moore and Julian Simon prove this convincingly. Facts are often inconvenient. But, if you want to know the facts, this is the book for you.

Great Resource

It's Getting Better all the Time is an upbeat statistical reference consisting of factual text and colorful graphs. Fascinating and fun, the book is an essential reference for authors and speakers. It is a treasury of statistics.And the book has a great title. As a publisher, author of 28 Books, 109 revised editions, six translations and over 500 magazine articles as well as a consultant to the book publishing industry, I spend much of my time doing research. I will refer to this book again and again.Dan Poynter, Para Publishing.

Eye-Opening Details of the American Century

Stephen Moore and Julian Simon have compiled the most significant data of how life in America has improved since 1900.We all know about major technological advances, but the details of the obliteration of diseases, the accumulation of material wealth and increased opportunities for ownership are astounding.This book will trounce the nay-sayers, negativists and should silence the loudest "Chicken Little".This book is as useful as a research tool, as it is for pleasure reading.