IT'S BETTER THAN IT LOOKS

Does our way of life have a future? WHY THE WORLD REFUSES TO END will answer that question and show the hidden reasons why most things will get better, not worse. The book is an anthem to dynamism, the philosophy that creative responses to problems can keep society on a mainly positive course.

Ebola has harmed fewer people than seasonal flu, fossil fuels have been expected to be exhausted by now, money-printing by Western governments has been expected to cause Weimar-style hyperinflation, terrorist attacks in the US have been widely expected after 9/11, China's rising GDP was expected to push the American economy off the world stage, poverty and malnutrition were expected to become worse, New York City was expecting superpredator crime, artificial global warming was expected to trigger apocalypse, and in 1995 Bill Clinton declared a coming "global anarchy". None of these worst-case scenarios ever came true. So, why do things get better instead of worse? In a time when trends in climate change, inequality, political gridlock and other issues seem unstoppably negiative, actual records show that countless "unstoppable" pessimistic expectations were turned into upward arcs. This book spells out the underlying reasons and sounds a call for reform by showing that it's never too late to change the world. Gregg Easterbrook is author of ten books, two of them New York Times Notable Books. He was national correspondent for The Atlantic, and since has been a contributing editor. He is a former visiting fellow of the Brookings Institution and distinguished fellow of the Fulbright Foundation. He writes for the New Republic and the New York Times.