Thankfully, We Don't Have To Spend As Much of Our Incomes on Food As Our Ancestors Did
The portion that Americans spend on food has fallen steeply over the last century.
Progress
This Year's Nobel Winners for Economics Explained How Innovation Makes Us Rich
Joel Mokyr has long made the case against technophobia, including in the pages of Reason.
The Depopulation Bomb
What if the challenge for humanity’s future is not too many people on a crowded planet, but too few people to sustain the progress that the world needs?
Reason Nominated for 17 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominees include stories on inflation breaking brains, America's first drug war, Afghans the U.S. left behind, Javier Milei, and much more.
No, the U.S. Industrial Base Is Not Collapsing
Our manufacturing output, even adjusted for inflation, is near all-time highs.
Lawn-Sign Liberalism vs. Supply-Side Progressivism
"Supply-side progressives" like Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson are ultimately technocrats, not libertarians. But they recognize that more is better than less and that a good society is not zero-sum.
Modern Crafters Rediscover an Old Sweater
Knitting's evolution from necessity to leisure activity is a testament to economic progress.
The Republican Radical Who Helped Launch the Gay Rights Movement
Dorr Legg saw the government as homosexuals' enemy.
Progress, Rediscovered
A new movement promoting scientific, technological, and economic solutions to humanity's problems emerges.
Must Government Fund Science?
AEI's Tony Mills and British biochemist Terence Kealey debate whether science needs government funding.
The Bankruptcy of Nostalgianomics
Americans are wealthier today than in the 1960s. That's not because of Bidenomics; it's because of six decades of progress.
Should Government Fund Science? A Soho Forum Debate
AEI's Tony Mills and British biochemist Terence Kealey debate whether science needs government funding.
Chris Christie for Robots and Tech Progress
A positive vision for America's future at the Republican debate
Despite the Doomsday Narrative, Global Inequality Has Significantly Declined
This progress has been widely shared, to the great benefit of the people at the bottom of the distribution.
Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites
But Patrick Deneen’s “common-good conservatism” almost certainly would be.
'Now Is Better,' Says Legendary Designer Stefan Sagmeister
His bold new exhibition draws on the work of Steven Pinker, Our World in Data, and Human Progress to document how much life has improved since the good old days.
Stefan Sagmeister: An Artist Who Believes 'Now Is Better'
The legendary graphic designer juxtaposes 18th- and 19th-century paintings with visualizations of how much life has improved over the centuries.
Mark P. Mills: Get Ready for the Roaring 2020s!
Pessimism is everywhere, but the author of The Cloud Revolution says we're entering a golden age of abundant, ubiquitous, and liberating technology.
The Myth of Wild Nature and Creating a New Form of Paradise
A review of the new book Tickets For The Ark, by Rebecca Nesbit
Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley: More People Means More Wealth
The Superabundance authors make a compelling case that the world is getting richer for everyone.
Thanos Was Wrong: More People Means More Wealth
Superabundance explains why a world of 8 billion people is infinitely richer than one with 1 billion.
Are Men Done? They Are Failing at School, Work, and Life.
Richard V. Reeves documents terrible trends and suggests solutions that don't come at the expense of women.
Russ Roberts: Why Economists Suck at Explaining Life
The EconTalk host and Wild Problems author talks about the limits of cost-benefit analyses.
Russ Roberts: Why Economists Are Irrelevant
The host of EconTalk and author of Wild Problems says our biggest decisions don't submit to easy cost-benefit analyses.
Michael Shermer: 'Women Are Not Just Tits and Ass. There's More to It Than That, a Lot More.'
The best-selling author of Why People Believe Weird Things sees a fundamental clash between wokeness and scientific inquiry.
These Environmentalists Want To Ban Single-Use Plastics Because Recycling Them 'Will Never Work'
And yet infinitely recyclable plastics are on the horizon.
Mike Solana: 'Thought Crime' Is Essential to Progress
The Founders Fund vice president and Pirate Wires author on supporting heretics as a means of social and economic innovation.
Hope Must Conquer Fear in Politics
Princess Leia shows us why hope is crucial for a liberty-oriented way of life.
Steven Pinker: Rationality Saves Lives
The Harvard linguist says Enlightenment reasoning is central to both material and moral progress.
40 Ways Things Are Getting Better
"What has gotten materially better in America in, say, the last twenty years?" So! Much!
Scott Winship: Don't Believe Horror Stories About Fertility Rates, Income Inequality, and Economic Mobility
Americans have a reputation for being cockeyed optimists, but we're suckers when it comes to "declension narratives" about the fallen state of our world.
The World Is Doing Better Than Ever. Here's Why You Never Hear About It.
Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know documents progress and explains why it happens.
Ronald Bailey: The World Is Getting Cleaner, Richer, and Safer
Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know documents the immense, ongoing progress that politicians and media refuse to acknowledge.
2020 Has Been Terrible So Far, but There's Still Good News Out There
Sometimes, it's good to take a step back
Let's Have Fewer Public Statues
Those smitten by John Wayne, Robert E. Lee, or even Joseph Stalin should commission statues on their own property. The rest of us have more important issues to debate.
All Statues Should Be Private
We should celebrate our fandom on our own dime, and on our own property.
'Killer' Walkman, 'Insane' Bicycles, and Novels Will Rot Your Brain: Pessimist Archive's Jason Feifer on 'Why We Resist New Things'
Jason Feifer's podcast explores "why we resist new things" and tells great stories about panics over the novel, the elevator, the waltz, margarine, and more.
Earth Is Nearly 520 Percent More Abundant Now Than in 1980
Thanks to the ultimate resource: the human mind
Simon Abundance Index Launch on Monday at the Cato Institute
Mark the 49th anniversary of Earth Day by celebrating human ingenuity.
Why Moral Progress Is Not Inevitable
Political theorist Jacob Levy reminds us that the arc of history doesn't always bend towards justice. Moral retrogression has happened before, and could well occur again.
The New York Times Condescends to Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Fans
If Times editors don't want to learn about their genetics, then they simply shouldn't take the tests.
Resources Are Almost 5 Times as Abundant as They Were in 1980
New Simon Abundance Index elegantly refutes primitive zero-sum intuitions with respect to population and resource availability trends.
A Ford Mustang Costs About the Same as in 1968, but College Costs a Helluva Lot More
A brief look at 50-year cost and quality trends in cars, houses, college and health care.
Thomas Sowell Returns
One of America's top social scientists on what has changed since he sat down with Reason 38 years ago.
Median Household Income Is at an All-Time High. Are You Happy Yet?: Podcast
Economist Mark J. Perry talks about rising incomes, flattening inequality, low unemployment, and why none of it seems to make us feel better.
