The Great Escape : : Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality / / Angus Deaton.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Deaton, Angus,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (376 p.) :; 50 line illus.

The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Angus Deaton--one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty--tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind. Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts--including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions--that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape. Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction: What This Book Is About -- 1. The Wellbeing of the World -- PART I. LIFE AND DEATH -- 2. From Prehistory to 1945 -- 3. Escaping Death in the Tropics -- 4. Health in the Modern World -- PART II. MONEY -- 5. Material Wellbeing in the United States -- 6. Globalization and the Greatest Escape -- PART III. HELP -- 7. How to Help Those Left Behind -- Postscript: What Comes Next? -- Notes -- Index