Books in Brief - Review

National Review, Feb 19, 2001 by Cristopher Rapp

It's Getting Better All the Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Last 100 Years, by Stephen Moore and Julian L. Simon (Cato, 294 pp., $14.95)

This book gets its title from a Beatles tune and shares some of the Fab Four's cheery optimism. Famed free-marketeer Julian L. Simon (the book was begun before his death in February 1998) and his protege, NR contributing editor Stephen Moore, present a statistical state of the nation, quantifying the progress made in various areas of American life over the past 100 years. In easy-to-read charts and graphs, the book runs the gamut-from life expectancy (increased by 30 years since 1900), to food production (up 40 percent since 1950), to charitable giving (up nearly 400 percent since 1955). As the authors admit up-front, the book focuses on material rather than cultural trends; as a result, it may present too rosy a picture. Nevertheless, It's Getting Better All the Time will prove to be a tremendously useful resource for students, journalists, and others. More important, it serves as a valuable reminder of the blessings provided by political liberty and open economics. As Moore and Simon conclude, "Freedom works."