Around the world, poverty is collapsing. Why is that so hard to believe?

In 2012 and 2013, The Spectator opened its Christmas special issue with a leading article counting the ways in which the world had never been a better place, and was set to get better still. We didn’t do so this year, as the list would have been a bit too similar to previous versions – but others did pick up the theme, including Dan Hannan on ConHome. This was taken up by Matthew d’Ancona in the Guardian making an excellent follow-up point: if things are so good, why don’t people feel it?

He traces this argument to Matt Ridley’s 2010 book, the Rational Optimist, and to Stephen Pinker’s 2011 book about declining violence. I agree with him that Ridley’s book is a landmark in the debate: if you haven’t read it, go buy it now. But other, earlier studies are worth noting. In 2006, Indur Goklany published a book called The Improving State of the World – Matthew d’Ancona spotted its significance and commissioned Allister Heath to bring it to the attention of Spectator readers in