YouSaid · the spoken record

Oded Galor

lines on the record: 52
first: 2022-04-15
most recent: 2022-04-15
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“So, what I learned from this individually is that somehow this spirit that is not necessarily, I mean, it's partly individual, but partly collective, because naturally individuals themselves could not have defeated the Russians in the Ukraine butterfield. It requires first individual spirit and the individual cherish of freedom, but in addition, it requires the collective action. So in this respect, perhaps I'm more hopeful than otherwise.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So if I think about it in the context of the contemporary period and if I think about it in the context of the 20th century and the 21st century, again, my feeling is that over time we do see a tendency for human to cooperate more than otherwise. And despite the horrible atrocities that we're experiencing at the moment, we do see something very fundamental that is sort of prevailing. In the context of the Ukraine crisis, at least what strikes me as something very fundamental and very important is precisely this spirit of civil liberties, the spirit of freedom that is ultimately able to conquer the enormous amount of resources that the Russians are investing in order to demolish the Ukrainian population.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So that's a complex question, particularly if you think about it from an evolutionary viewpoint. Naturally, we are part of the scheme of nature and we evolve in a particular way to be competitive on the one hand and to cooperate when it's needed. So naturally there is a tension between these two dimensions of selection to which humans were exposed. On the one hand, we were selected to be selected on the basis of the selfish gene, if you wish, so as to assure our survival relative to others. On the other hand, we learned how to cooperate because we are not alone in the world and cooperation was very important.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“With some delay, a few hundred years China naturally adopted Western-style economics. And at the moment, it's basically boring technologies or bringing technologies that are present in the shelf and innovating to a large extent independently. But again, this is not going to be long-lasting. It's not going to be long-lasting because in order to be innovative, you need to be more diverse. And China is overly homogeneous for its own good. So yes, China will converge, not fully, will converge up to a certain bound. And assuming that the world will experience another technological change or another technological paradigm, again, China will be left behind because they will not have the flexibility to adjust to this change. World. That's the prediction.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, so I think it's reasonable and I think that in fact at least based on my research that's the right conclusion. So the idea is the following. China was dominating the world in the Middle Ages because of cohesiveness. So within a technological regime, China is fantastic because if in fact you have the technology on the shelf and you bring the technology from the shelf and you employ it and you have a cohesive labor force, you will be more efficient in production and you will prosper. This is what we see in the context of China, in the Middle Ages. But now when a new technology is looming in the horizon, when industrialization is about to occur, then again, Europe has the upper hand because you need this cultural fluidity to allow you to make this transition.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The place where the sweet spot is present where the benefits of diversity in terms of innovations is properly balancing the adverse effect in terms of social cohesiveness. This is mind-boggling because it implies that an event that occurred as early as 60,000 years ago is still lingering. And in fact, empirical research is showing that 17 to 25 percent of the variation As I said, it is mind-boggling, but when you think about it deeply enough, it's quite well understood.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“What do we see in the course of human history? China is dominating the world in the Middle Ages, but ultimately it is Europe that is taking over in the course of industrialization. And why is it so? Well, Europe is in fact culturally very fluid, is very diverse in comparison to China. And then when technological progress accelerates and the virtues of diversity in terms of technological progress amounting, in fact, it is Europe that is taking over and taking off first in the course of industrialization. So when we look at empirical evidence from the present world, it appears that today the societies that are optimally diverse are the societies that are closely related to the US society, namely this is”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It appears that the societies that are optimally diverse, that have the diversity level that is conducive for productivity, China, Japan, Korea. Societies that we typically do not associate with Diversity level that is conducive for productivity. But remember the year 1500 is very different than today's world. This is a time period in which technological innovations are not very rapid. And as a result of it, the benefit of homogeneity in terms of social cohesiveness dominates the adverse effect in terms of lack of creativity and innovations. So this is the sweet spot level of diversity.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Something different, and this is a source of conflict. And conflict naturally is a source of reduction in productivity. So we have two conflicting effects of diversity. And this implies that societies that are very diverse, societies that are very homogeneous will not perform as well as societies that are somewhere in between, namely societies that have a sweet spot level of diversity. When we think about it empirically, this implies that somehow nature Design a certain randomness of diversity across the globe, namely there was an optimal distance from Africa in terms of diversity that is conducive for productivity at a certain point in time. And what do we see empirically? And that's very interesting. When you look at the world in the year 1500,”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In this process, we see declining level of diversity. Every population that is departing is taking a subset of the original diversity that existed. Now, why is it so important? So diversity has conflicting effects on prosperity. On the one hand, diversity is associated with cross-fertilization of ideas, complementarity of traits, and as a result of it, more innovations than otherwise. But on the other hand, diversity is associated with social non-cohesiveness. We can show, and I showed empirically, that diversity is associated with mistrust. Diversity is associated with disagreement about the desirable public goods. Some people would like more education, others would like less education, some individuals would like to see redistribution policies.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Now, the initial population settled, say, in the fertile crescent, in close proximity to the African continent. They settle there the carrying capacity of the environment is enormous, and as a result of it they multiply very rapidly. This multiplication by itself is not generating significant amount of diversity beyond what existed in the initial population. But at a certain point, the carrying capacity of the environment is insufficient to feed the people, and another group is departing, though some people will move from the fertile crescent into Europe around 45,000 years ago, others will venture eastward into Asia and ultimately into America, crossing the Bering Strait around 25,000 years ago, venturing into North America between 14 and 23,000 years ago. And ultimately into South America around 14,000 years ago.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Ultimately, we go to the deepest root of comparative development, namely the out-of-Africa hypothesis. So at a certain point 60 to 90,000 years ago, the human species is departing from Africa. And during this exodus from Africa, individuals that are departing do not carry the entire spectrum of diversity that existed in Africa. And why is it so? Well, the initial population in Africa is relatively small. Departing population is relatively small. And as a result of it, the sampling is not representative sampling because of limited population. As population are departing, they carry with them only a subset of the diversity that existed initially.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So let me remind you about the unique structure of the book. So the book is divided into two fundamental parts. The first one is marching forward from the origins of humans in Africa 300,000 years ago to the present. The second one is in fact reversing the order, starting with the present inequality across the globe and then peeling gradually different layers of influence. And as we peel these layers of influence, we move, as I said, from institutions that perhaps were formed 300 years ago, 500 years ago, and earlier into cultural elements that were formed in the past, into geography that affects economic development directly and indirectly through culture and institution. This leads us ultimately into the onset of the Neolithic revolution that occurred 12,000 years ago.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Institutions are very important, and colonialism is very important. So the different elements at play, and if you want to understand, say, the growth tragedy as it is defined in the context of Africa, then we will have to invoke many of these arguments. It's not based on a single force. And as you said, in the context of Africa, the fertile areas in which long-term orientation is more pronounced than others, the less fertile areas in which long-term orientation is less pronounced. And this is true within the European continent as well. So we have basically to think about it holistically. We have to think about the different forces that are operating that are affecting different ethnic groups, different regions, different societies, different nations.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, the thesis is broader than that. And as I said, perhaps unlike others, I am receptive to the idea that there are multiple forces in operation. And as I said, the issue of diversity is critical, and we will get to it. Geography is important both in terms of the disease environment, if you mention Africa, and in terms of the impact of geography on cultural evolution.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Elements that are associated with long term orientation. So we know, for instance, that the musical instrument is a fantastic tool to teach children how to invest and ultimately reap the benefits years later. And so the curriculum should be structured around these ideas. And in this respect, as I said, long-term orientation is not basically suggesting that we can define a particular continent as more future-oriented than others, as I said. My empirical research here shows that this is true within a country. This is true within a continent, and this is true across continents too. But the variations can have different level of aggregations.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Or geographical determinism? Not at all. So when the World Bank is advancing certain policies and basically the main policies that are being advanced are educate your people and assure proper family planning. So targeting fertility and targeting education. This is a fantastic policy, but it has to be refined fundamentally because again, we have limited resources. If we target a population that is originated in a part of the world, that lacks Long term orientation due to the geographical endowment, then again the curriculum should be such that in this societies one must emphasize”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, this is critical because when we think about future oriented mindset, this is a very critical element in the growth process. When we take education decisions, it is based on our ability to be forward-looking. When we save, it is based on the ability to be forward-looking. So the entire growth process is predicated on this notion of long-term orientation. And it appears that this long-term orientation can be traced, as I said, to geographical variations across the globe at generated the ability of some societies to be engaged in agricultural investment and consequently cultivate this cultural trait of future-oriented mindset and other societies were deprived from this. Now again, does it imply that we have historical determinism?”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“For the future, to be future oriented. So the argument is, and as I said, this is a very strong empirical argument. It is well founded empirically, is that across the globe and within each continent in the globe, those societies that were originated from places where the return to agricultural investment are higher than otherwise are more long-term oriented, a more future-oriented in the sense that, I mean, if you think about it in terms of contemporary outcomes, they smoke less, they're more educated, they have protected sex, etc. So they are future-oriented, and again, you can trace this future orientation to the legacy that existed hundreds of years ago and thousands of years ago in terms of agricultural endowment.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Have animal husbandry, you might as well gutter, you might as well fish, rather than being gauged in agricultural investment. Now, why is it so important? Agricultural investment is associated with the ability to delay gratification in the sense that you plan today and you harvest four months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. So this process is critical in the ability of individuals to”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I wouldn't define this a European trade, and that's not the argument. In fact, the argument is much more refined. So the argument is that geographical endowment in the distant past affected the exposure of individuals to agricultural activities. In some places across the globe, and this can be regions within Europe. It's not, I mean, I think it will be deceiving to think about it in the context of Europe versus Asia or Europe versus Africa. Let's think about it just for the sake of the argument, and that's completely valid empirically. Let's think about it in the context of variations within the European continent. Suppose that some people originated in certain geographical territories where the soil is such that the crops that you can cultivate in the soil doesn't justify agricultural investment. You might as well do something different.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Policy prescription that are not universal, they are country specific, they are history specific, namely understanding the history of each nation, understanding the geographical endowment of each nation, understanding the diversity endowment of each nation will allow us, as we will discuss later, to develop policies that could mitigate inequality as we see it across the globe today. So there is a hopeful outlook there as well.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then geography is in fact inducing the development of these cultural traits and institutional traits. So much of the accomplishment that is made in the argument here is the understanding, the geographical endowment affects the evolution of cultural traits, affect the evolution of institutional traits, and is behind a significant portion of the divergence that we see across the globe. And on top of it, there is an argument that I hope we will have time to discuss, which is the issue of human diversity and how it interacts with comparative development. But again, I would say at the outset, before I'm creating perhaps a lack of optimism, that in fact the hopeful part about the book and its achievement is that in fact it provides policymakers with very concrete”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right, so as I explained in the second part of the book, Part of what is behind this great inequality in the wealth of nations is institutional factors, the adoption of differential institutions across the globe, so we can discuss, the cultural factor, namely the adoption of cultural traits that are gross enhancing in some segments of the world and the adoption of cultural traits that are gross retarding in other areas of the globe.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“As a result of it, there is very little demand for education. And consequently, the gains from trade, and there are gains from trade, are converted into more people, into more Indian that are being born rather than the prosperity of the existing population. And this is basically delaying the demographic transition, delaying the transition from stagnation to growth in India for a prolonged period of time and is generating divergence. So that's important to realize, so that these forces are important. They're fundamentally in explaining some of the inequality that emerge across the globe. And of course, if we augment it with extractive institutions, with slavery, it's even more pronounced than otherwise. But again, there are deeper forces that ultimately led into the position of these different societies.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Specialize in the production of raw material, in the production of primary goods that are naturally low skill intensive goods, namely they require a relatively little education. Whereas England is specializing in the production of industrial goods that are education intensive. That's very important because it implies that in the context of England, There is an additional demand for human capital that is catalyzing the process that I mentioned before, higher demand for human capital, more investment in human capital, lower fertility rates, and an earlier transition from stagnation to growth. And in the context of India, we see the opposite force, namely India is specializing in the production of raw material, primary goods,”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It appears that the takeoff, say, of England in the course of industrialization would have taken place with similar vigor even in the absence of certain markets in the colonized world. Nevertheless, when we think about, say, the trade relationship between India and England, it is quite apparent that these trade relationship was detrimental for the development of the Indian economy and was beneficial for the development of the English economy. In what sense? So when trade relationship is being formed between India and England, naturally this trade relationship are not necessarily free trade relationship. And what we see in the course of this trade relationship is that India is pushed”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So... Impact of colonialism, extraction, slavery on the wealth of nations. It is apparent, it is there, and it explains significant portion of the variations in the wealth of nations. Nevertheless, it leaves us with an enormous puzzle, which is why is it a case that Europeans are the ones to colonize other societies rather than vice versa, namely it leads us into the understanding that in some sense we need to understand first variations in prosperity of nations within the old world, and we need to understand what ultimately led into colonialism. So what I argue in the book, and that's important to realize, is that”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Pilling the layer of institutions, moving deeper into the cultural factor, even deeper into geography, direct effect of geography and indirect through culture and institutions, and ultimately moving all the way back to Africa from where we are all originated, looking at out-of-Africa hypothesis, and it's a fact on human diversity and comparative economic development.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And why is it so? As I just told you, much of the inequality that we see today emerge in the course of the differential takeoff. So if you really want to understand this inequality, we have to step back at least 200 years. But then when we step back 200 years, we realize that in order to understand the differential timing of the takeoff across the globe, we need in addition to realize that certain initial conditions that were formed in the distant past led some society for an earlier takeoff and others for a delayed takeoff. And consequently this leads us to try to peel various layers of influence that affected inequality today. Starting, as I said, with the initial inequality as we see it at the present, moving into”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Given the fact that this takeoff is associated with a 14 fold increase in income per capita, it implies that those societies that are taking off first, Western European societies and their offshoots in North America and elsewhere. Diverging in terms of their wealth from the rest of the societies in the world, bringing about much of the inequality as we see today. So the second part of the book is in fact trying to explore the roots of this inequal And the revolutionary hypothesis that is behind this second part is the idea that much of the inequality that is present and prevalent in the world today is originated in the distant past.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So the mystery of inequality is what is the origin of this vast inequality in the wealth of nations? And in addition, what brought about this divergence, enormous divergence in the wealth of nations that occurred in the past two centuries. So when the takeoff is taking place in the world economy, and as I said, on average, the world economy is experiencing a 14-fold increase in income per capita. This takeoff is not occurring in all places at the same time. Some societies are experiencing this takeoff at the beginning of the 19th century, perhaps even earlier. Other societies only towards the end of the 20th century, if at all.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“They lobby intensely in the British Parliament, leading into the education act here in 1870 and ultimately into the Education Act of 1902 in which education become compulsory, universal and free in Britain. So in fact, the underlying force behind what we see there is in fact the push of industrialists to educate workers. But again, it's based on the same mechanism, namely we reach a stage in which industrial demand for human capital is very strong. Individuals would like to educate their children. They cannot afford it, and then the state is intervening, public education is being provided, and consequently people send their kids to school. More prosperous people rather than into more people”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And sooner or later, it is the industrialists that realize that, in fact, in order to be competitive, they must have an educated workforce. So in fact, as I argued in the book and with enormous amount of evidence, it is the industrialists that are lobbying intensively in the British Parliament, for instance, for the provision of public education. Naturally, they realize that individuals are too poor to invest in the education of their children. Yes, the demand is there, the potential return is there, but they don't have the means to finance the cost of education. And consequently, it is the industrialists that realize that, in fact, there is a potential here for gain both on the parts of the industrialists and on the part of workers, and in order to have this gain,”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's a fantastic question, and indeed education was motivated by a variety of reasons, some of it had to do with social cohesiveness, some of it had to do with demand in the military, and some of it had to do with demand in the industrial sector. So what happens in the course of human history is that technological progress accelerates, as I said earlier, the technological landscape is changing, and human capital becomes essential to cope with this rapidly changing technological environment.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Technological progress, human capital formation, and the decline in fertility that are permitting the world to sail into the sustained growth regime.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Naturally, resources are limited. How do you educate your children with an income that is very close to subsistence? You cannot economize on your own consumption. And as a result of it, you economize on the number of children. You have less children than before. And this is critical because this frees the growth process from the counterbalancing effect of population. So in the course of industrialization, technological progress accelerates, human capital starts to be formed, people start to educate their children, fertility starts to decline, and it is the decline in fertility that frees the growth process from the counterbalancing effect of population. And consequently, we have this holy triangle.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Within 12,000 year period, the size of the world population in the midst of industrialization is about 1 billion people, namely during this epoch of stagnation, the size of the population in the world increases 400-fold and the technological level is moving from stone tool technology to steam engine technology. In the course of human history, technological progress becomes faster and faster and faster up to a point in which the technological landscape changes so rapidly that individuals and parents realize that in order to allow their children to cope with this rapidly changing technological environment, they must start to invest in the education of their children.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Processes very slow. At any point in time, the rate of technological progress is negligible. The rate of population growth is negligible. The rate of human adaptation is negligible. But over 300,000 year period, we move gradually from stone tool technology to a steam engine technology in the eve of industrialization. And if we think about the size of the human population, despite this Malthusian stagnation, what we see is that the size of the world population 12,000 years ago in the eve of the agricultural revolution is about 2.5 million people. And then”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Operate and consequently induces human adaptation. And human adaptation is important because this adaptation permits further technological progress. In the course of human history, we see these wheels of change, technological progress, population size and population adaptation that are reinforcing one another.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Technology is advancing during this period, it permits people to have more resources, and when they have more resources, more of their children survive, and in addition, they can in fact have more children than otherwise. So then despite this progress in technology, resources per person are declining back to their initial position. And throughout the course of human history, we see this reinforcing interaction. The level of technology determines the size of the population, but the size of the population in turn affects the rate of technological progress. More people, more potential innovators, more demand for their innovations, more technological progress. In addition, technological progress is changing the technology in which people”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In the context of the Maltusian world, what we see is this interaction between the size of the population, the adaptation of the population, and the level of technology. So since the emergence of an atomically modern human in Africa, People are innovating. Not innovating at a pace that we are innovating today, but we are innovating. One stone tool is replacing another stone tool. Progress is not made daily, but it is made over the centuries and over the millennium.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The second one is the mystery of inequality, namely what brought about this vast inequality in the wealth of nations. So in the context of the first mystery, that's relevant for your question, unified growth theory and the first part of the book are in fact trying to develop a coherent, unified structure that in fact will show us why is it the case that over 99.9% of human existence societies are in a state of stagnation or if you wish in a state of multusion stagnation and then ultimately quite spontaneously we see the emergence of sustained economic growth. So naturally, this is a very difficult problem from a mathematical viewpoint, but it's very interesting conceptually. And let me try to walk you through the argument that is raised in the book.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So let me take a step back and basically phrase it in the context of one of the mysteries that are being resolved in the book. So the book is revolving around two fundamental mysteries that were surrounding human existence. The first one I defined as the mystery of growth, namely what brought about this dramatic transformation in living standards in the past 200 years after literally 300,000 years of near stagnation.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Living standards are fluctuating within a very narrow band, very close to the subsistence level. This can be defined and this can be established. And then at a certain point in the course of the past 200 years, we see this tremendous increase in living standards where living standards measured by income per capita is increasing 14-fold within 200 year period. So the debate is whether it is fourteenfold today versus perhaps half a fold over 300,000 year period, or whether in fact it's 14-fold versus no progress whatsoever.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So that's an important observation and indeed, I mean, when we think about solid data sets, and naturally this will lead us into the 20th century, the 21st century, today, I mean, with archival work, we can generate very solid data for the 18th century, the 17th century. And before that, we do need to rely on evidence that are perhaps more scattered, but nevertheless very reliable. The pattern that I'm depicting, namely that over most of human existence, we do not see much progress in the context of living standards is based on solid evidence in the sense that I cannot say that standard of living was such that income per capita was $400 per person per year or $1,000 per person per year. But I can certainly say with firm evidence that over most of human existence, we see that”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Permitting us to understand how humanity march forward in a way that ultimately brought about the agricultural revolution 12,000 years ago and the industrial revolution about 250 years ago and ultimately the prosperity that we experience in today's world. And at the same time, how this march of humanity led into this enormous inequality as we see it across the globe. I had a particular, I mean, I had an intellectual journey that was corresponding, if you wish, to the journey of humanity, and this intellectual journey allowed me ultimately to develop, as I said, the tools and the conceptual framework to understand the journey of humanity in its entirety.”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Flour And over time, I was basically fascinated by the vast inequality that is present across the globe. And I was interested in understanding the origins of this vast inequality. And in the course of this investigation, I develop different theories and different mathematical tools that ultimately enable me to understand the process of development in its entirety. So part of the achievement of unified growth theory was basically Better understanding of how few individuals that resided in Africa 300,000 years ago”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Recovered from these episod Difficulties So yes, I mean, the current events are horrific, devastating. Nevertheless, I think that Current state Space Inappropriate perspect Contemporary”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Don't appear The human species is being Derailed from any of these events. Think about other events that are perhaps more. Line with what we experience in the context of COVID-19”
2022-04-15 · Intelligence Squared · The Journey of Humanity, with Oded Galor · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT