Most stories in the papers tell us that people are worse off than they think they are or we think they are. So, I have been pleased this week to see two pointing out the opposite. The first, in The Times, tells us that "the world is better off than we thought".
The OECD has been putting out reports into global well-being since 1820, and notes that if you take a few factors outside straightforward GDP into account, the world looks to be in pretty good shape. GDP per head has gone up ten-fold since 1820, and wages have also risen very substantially. But add in advances in education and it looks even more "impressive."
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