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Progress

mark-mills (1)

Innovation

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.

Nick Gillespie | 1.18.2023 11:00 AM

'Tickets for the Ark' hammers home that there is no objective value neutral ecological baseline towards which conservation must aim.

Biodiversity

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

Ronald Bailey | 12.25.2022 7:00 AM

A picture of Thanos from the Marvel movies on a tan background with black, white, and red text reading 'Thanos Is Wrong'

Human Progress

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.

Nick Gillespie | 12.14.2022 11:00 AM

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Progress

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.

Nick Gillespie | 12.14.2022 10:30 AM

Richard V. Reeves

Economics

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.

Nick Gillespie | 10.19.2022 10:30 AM

Russ-Roberts-economics

Economics

Russ Roberts: Why Economists Suck at Explaining Life

The EconTalk host and Wild Problems author talks about the limits of cost-benefit analyses.

Nick Gillespie | 9.28.2022 3:16 PM

Russ-Roberts-economics

Darwin

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.

Nick Gillespie | 9.7.2022 3:42 PM

Michael Shermer speaking

Biology

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.

Nick Gillespie | 8.17.2022 4:00 PM

PlasticWasteDreamstime

Plastic Pollution

These Environmentalists Want To Ban Single-Use Plastics Because Recycling Them 'Will Never Work'

And yet infinitely recyclable plastics are on the horizon.

Ronald Bailey | 5.31.2022 3:00 PM

Solana

Internet

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.

Nick Gillespie and Peter Suderman | 3.16.2022 3:06 PM

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Star Wars

Hope Must Conquer Fear in Politics

Princess Leia shows us why hope is crucial for a liberty-oriented way of life.

Stephen Kent | 11.4.2021 3:00 PM

Pinker

Science

Steven Pinker: Rationality Saves Lives

The Harvard linguist says Enlightenment reasoning is central to both material and moral progress.

Nick Gillespie | 10.15.2021 5:00 PM

westendrf570021

Progress

40 Ways Things Are Getting Better

"What has gotten materially better in America in, say, the last twenty years?" So! Much!

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 8.31.2021 11:45 AM

JWB-020519-AEI-Panel-516-final-1

Income inequality

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.

Nick Gillespie | 5.19.2021 6:13 PM

RobotDreamstime

Economic Growth

Is the Great Stagnation Over?

Yes. Get ready for the Roaring Twenties.

Ronald Bailey | 4.7.2021 4:00 PM

thumb

Environmentalism

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.

Nick Gillespie and Ronald Bailey | 9.14.2020 11:20 AM

FoundersDinner (2 of 43)

Green New Deal

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.

Nick Gillespie | 9.9.2020 4:20 PM

TenTrendsCover

Progress

2020 Has Been Terrible So Far, but There's Still Good News Out There

Sometimes, it's good to take a step back

Ronald Bailey | 8.18.2020 3:30 PM

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Culture War

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.

Steven Greenhut | 7.3.2020 8:00 AM

zumaamericastwentyseven822595

Privatization

All Statues Should Be Private

We should celebrate our fandom on our own dime, and on our own property.

J.D. Tuccille | 6.24.2020 11:00 AM

Q&A

Reason Interviews

Economist Russ Roberts Isn't Worried About the Middle Class

John Osterhoudt | 1.21.2020 6:00 AM

jasonfeifer

History

'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.

Nick Gillespie | 7.10.2019 10:30 AM

Paul Ehrlich is never right

Human Progress

Earth Is Nearly 520 Percent More Abundant Now Than in 1980

Thanks to the ultimate resource: the human mind

Ronald Bailey | 5.31.2019 12:17 PM

True prophet of abundance

Julian Simon

Simon Abundance Index Launch on Monday at the Cato Institute

Mark the 49th anniversary of Earth Day by celebrating human ingenuity.

Ronald Bailey | 4.19.2019 4:20 PM

Retrogression

Volokh Conspiracy

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.

Ilya Somin |The Volokh Conspiracy | 4.3.2019 4:38 PM

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23andMe

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.

Ronald Bailey | 2.6.2019 4:10 PM

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Julian Simon

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.

Ronald Bailey | 12.4.2018 12:40 PM

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Progress

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.

Ronald Bailey | 11.28.2018 3:15 PM

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Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell Returns

One of America's top social scientists on what has changed since he sat down with Reason 38 years ago.

Thomas W. Hazlett | 11.26.2018 6:00 AM

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Donald Trump

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.

Nick Gillespie | 10.3.2018 12:00 PM

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Forests

Global Tree Cover Has Expanded More Than 7 Percent Since 1982

Satellite data finds that gains temperate and boreal forests offset reductions in tropical forests.

Ronald Bailey | 9.4.2018 1:00 PM

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Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker Loves the Enlightenment

The Harvard psychologist splits the difference between Dr. Pangloss and Pope Francis.

Nick Gillespie | 5.21.2018 6:00 AM

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Reasontv

Steven Pinker Wants Enlightenment Now!

Pope Francis is part of the problem, nuclear energy is part of the solution, and libertarians need to admit that not every regulation will turn us into Venezuela.

Nick Gillespie and Todd Krainin | 3.22.2018 3:08 PM

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Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein Is the Real Monster

Mary Shelley's misunderstood masterpiece turns 200.

Ronald Bailey | 3.4.2018 6:00 AM

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Overpopulation

High School Students Are Very Worried About Overpopulation. They Shouldn't Be.

New report claims U.S. overpopulation will blight their futures.

Ronald Bailey | 1.18.2018 2:01 PM

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Authoritarianism

Humanizing the Struggle at the Oslo Freedom Forum in New York

Triumphal stories and a commitment to fight on for individual freedom worldwide.

Cathy Young | 9.25.2017 3:33 PM

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Charlottesville

Despite the President's Pandering, White Nationalists Are Still Losing

As Trump learned this week, pandering to white nationalists means alienating most other Americans.

Steve Chapman | 8.17.2017 12:00 AM

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Forests

Earth's Forest Area 9 Percent Greater Than Thought

Satellite survey finds hidden forests all over the world.

Ronald Bailey | 5.12.2017 12:40 PM

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Bioethics

Should You Be Compensated for Your Medical Waste?

Especially if it turns out to be valuable?

Ronald Bailey | 4.21.2017 4:00 PM

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Robots

Robot Tax = Protectionism Against Progress

Taxing automation would slow down progress and ultimately make most of us poorer than we would otherwise be.

Ronald Bailey | 3.7.2017 3:20 PM

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Reasontv

Capitalism and Neoliberalism Have Made the World Better

Cato's Johan Norberg on politics, progress, and why he remains optimistic.

Alex Manning and Nick Gillespie | 3.3.2017 3:10 PM

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Play

When Play Drives Progress

Beach volleyball, bone flutes, Doritos, and the search for novelty

Virginia Postrel | 2.16.2017 6:00 AM

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