Abstract
This essay explores the journey of humanity since the emergence of Homo sapiens 300,000 years ago. It analyses the critical role of Unified Growth Theory in resolving two fundamental mysteries that had characterized this journey: (i) The mystery of growth—why did living standards stagnate for most of human history and what led to their sudden soar 200 years ago? (ii) the mystery of inequality—what are the roots of the major surge in inequality across nations and why have these gaps widened dramatically over the past 200 years?
Highlights
For most of human existence, since the emergence of Homo sapiens nearly 300,000 years ago, the patterns of human development were remarkably similar to those of other species: living standards scarcely changed over the millennia and regional variations in living conditions were insignificant
Skyrocketing living standards coincided with another major transformation unique to humanity: the emergence of vast wealth inequality between different societies across the globe
Western European nations and some of their former colonies in North America, Australia and New Zealand experienced this dramatic jump in living conditions as early as the nineteenth century while in
Summary
For most of human existence, since the emergence of Homo sapiens nearly 300,000 years ago, the patterns of human development were remarkably similar to those of other species: living standards scarcely changed over the millennia and regional variations in living conditions were insignificant. Where a quarter of babies died of cold, hunger, and assorted illnesses before reaching their first birthday, countless women perished during childbirth and life expectancy rarely exceeded forty It was a world in which men, women, and children spent long hours ferrying water to their homes, bathed very infrequently and utilized heating systems that were both polluting and inefficient. The dramatic jump in living conditions in the past two centuries has been the product of a sharp disruption of an epoch of stagnation not of a process that gained momentum incrementally over the course of human history. A food surplus resulting from technological innovations such as the advent of the plough and more efficient gristmills it enjoyed a temporary boost in wealth, rising birth rates and falling mortality rates Over time this population growth depleted the surplus as the more prosperous population kept having children until its food abundance vanished. Why? How did humanity break out of the poverty trap and escape the Malthusian Epoch?
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