Publisher's Synopsis
This book explores the concept of freedom, the ideas it inspires, and the most recent period in history when the world has broadly enjoyed it. These moments of freedom have significantly contributed to the development of humanity and its environment.
The most recent period of widespread freedom spanned approximately 40 years, from 1980 to 2020. This era coincided with the global decline of communism-except in a few unfortunate cases where tyrannies persist. It also overlapped with a significant expansion in regulated international trade, guided by the World Trade Organization (WTO). This increase in international trade brought remarkable progress. In Latin America, for instance, poverty rates fell from 50% to 20% of the population. Similarly, countries that adopted freedom-based economic models experienced a tenfold increase in per capita income, lifting entire societies out of poverty and nearly eradicating extreme poverty.
However, today we are witnessing an unexpected reversal. The very ideas that have driven humanity's progress are being questioned once again. Economic protectionism due to the success of emerging economies, autocracies, and the erosion of democratic principles-often due to inherent political flaws, as Plato once warned-are on the rise. Additionally, a new elite has emerged: government employees, who face perverse incentives tied to overregulation and prioritize job security to continue extracting rents.
This emerging era of diminished freedom can only be countered by promoting and sharing the ideas of liberty. Highlighting its emblematic successes, the public policies implemented to improve market systems, and its transformative impacts is essential to demonstrating how freedom has driven human development.
That is precisely the purpose of this book: to share a vision grounded in empirical evidence rather than ideology.
