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Authors: Matt Ridley

The Rational Optimist (56 page)

BOOK: The Rational Optimist
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  • IBM (corporation) 260, 261, 282
  • Ibn Khaldun 182
  • ice ages 52, 127, 329, 335, 340, 388
  • ice caps 125, 130, 313, 314, 334, 338–9, 426
  • Iceland 324
  • Ichaboe island 140
  • ‘idea-agora’ 262
  • imitation 4, 5, 6, 50, 77, 80
  • imperialism 104, 162, 164, 166, 172, 182, 319–20, 357;
    see also
    colonialism
  • in-vitro fertilisation 306
  • income, per capita: and economic freedom 117; equality 18–19, 218–19; increases in 14, 15, 16–17, 218–19, 285, 331–2
  • India: agriculture 126, 129, 141, 142–3, 147, 151–2, 156, 301; British rule 160; caste system 173; economic growth 187, 358; energy use 245; income equality 19; infant mortality 16; innovations 172–3, 251; Mauryan empire 172–3, 201, 357; mobile phone use 327; population growth 202, 203–4; prehistoric 66, 126, 129; trade 174–5, 175, 179, 186–7, 225, 228, 232; urbanisation 189
  • Indian Ocean 174, 175
  • Indonesia 66, 87, 89, 177
  • Indus river 167
  • Indus valley civilisation 161–2, 164
  • industrialisation: and capital investment 258–9; and end of slavery 197, 214; and food production 139, 201–2; and fossil fuels 214, 216–17, 229–33, 352; and innovation 38, 220–24, 227–8; and living standards 217–20, 226–7, 258; pessimistic views of 42, 102–3, 217–18, 284–5; and productivity 227–8, 230–31, 232, 235–6, 244–5; and science 255–8; and trade 224–6; and urbanisation 188, 226–7
  • infant mortality 14, 15, 16, 208–9, 284
  • inflation 24, 30, 169, 289
  • influenza
    see
    flu, pandemic
  • Ingleheart, Ronald 27
  • innovation: and capital investment 258–62, 269; and exchange 71–2, 76, 119, 167–8, 251, 269–74; and government spending programmes 267–9; increasing returns of 248–55, 274–7, 346, 354, 358–9; and industrialisation 38, 220–24, 227–8; and intellectual property 262–7, 269; limitlessness 374–7; and population growth 252; and productivity 227–8; and science 255–8, 412; and specialisation 56, 71–2, 73–4, 76–7, 119, 251; and trade 168, 171
  • insect-resistant crops 154–5
  • insecticides 151–2
  • insects 75–6, 87–8
  • insulin 156, 274
  • Intel (corporation) 263, 268
  • intellectual property 262–7;
    see also
    copyright; patents intensive farming 143–9
  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 330, 331, 332, 333–4, 338, 342, 347, 425, 426, 427, 428
  • internal combustion engine 140, 146, 244
  • International Planned Parenthood Foundation 203
  • internet: access to 253, 268; blogging 257; and charitable giving 318–19, 356; cyber-crime 99–100, 357; development of 263, 268, 270, 356; email 292; free exchange 105, 272–3, 356; packet switching 263; problem-solving applications 261–2; search engines 245, 256, 267; shopping 37, 99, 107, 261; social networking websites 262, 268, 356; speed of 252, 253; trust among users 99–100, 356; World Wide Web 273, 356
  • Inuits 44, 61, 64, 126
  • IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 330, 331, 332, 333–4, 338, 342, 347, 349, 425, 426, 427, 428
  • IQ levels 19
  • Iran 162
  • Iraq 31, 158, 161
  • Ireland 24, 129, 199, 227
  • iron 166, 167, 169, 181, 184, 223, 229, 230, 302, 407
  • irradiated food 150–51
  • irrigation 136, 147–8, 159, 161, 163, 198, 242, 281
  • Isaac, Glyn 64
  • Isaiah 102, 168
  • Islam 176, 357, 358
  • Israel 53, 69, 124, 148
  • Israelites 168
  • Italy: birth rate 208; city states 178–9, 181, 196; fascism 289; Greek settlements 170–71, 173–4; infant mortality 15; innovations 196, 251; mercantilism 89, 103, 178–9, 180, 196; prehistoric 69
  • ivory 70, 71, 73, 167

 

  • Jacob, François 7
  • Jacobs, Jane 128
  • Jamaica 149
  • James II, King 223
  • Japan: agriculture 197–8; birth rates 212; dictatorship 109; economic development 103, 322, 332; economic and technological regression 193, 197–9, 202; education 16; happiness 27; industrialisation 219; life expectancy 17, 31; trade 31, 183, 184, 187, 197
  • Jarawa tribe 67
  • Java 187
  • jealousy 2, 351
  • Jebel Sahaba cemeteries, Egypt 44, 45
  • Jefferson, Thomas 247, 249, 269
  • Jenner, Edward 221
  • Jensen, Robert 327
  • Jericho 127, 138
  • Jevons, Stanley 213, 237, 245
  • Jews 89, 108, 177–8, 184
  • Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan 25–6
  • Jobs, Steve 221, 264, 405
  • John, King of England 118
  • Johnson, Lyndon 202–3
  • Jones, Rhys 79
  • Jordan 148, 167
  • Jordan river 127
  • Joyce, James 289
  • justice 19–20, 116, 320, 358

 

  • Kalahari desert 44, 61, 76
  • Kalkadoon aborigines 91
  • Kanesh, Anatolia 165
  • Kangaroo Island 81
  • kangaroos 62, 63, 69–70, 84, 127
  • Kant, Immanuel 96
  • Kaplan, Robert 293
  • Kay, John 184, 227
  • Kazakhstan 206
  • Kealey, Terence 172, 255, 411
  • Kelly, Kevin 356
  • Kelvin, William Thomson, 1st Baron 412
  • Kenya 42, 87, 155, 209, 316, 326, 336, 353
  • Kerala 327
  • Kerouac, Jack 110
  • Khoisan people 54, 61, 62, 67, 116, 321
  • Kim Il Sung 187
  • King, Gregory 218
  • Kingdon, Jonathan 67
  • Kinneret, Lake 124
  • Klasies River 83
  • Klein, Naomi 291
  • Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (venture capitalists) 259
  • knowledge, increasing returns of 248–50, 274–7
  • Kodak (corporation) 114, 386
  • Kohler, Hans-Peter 212
  • Korea 184, 197, 300;
    see also
    North Korea; South Korea
  • Kuhn, Steven 64, 69
  • kula (exchange system) 134
  • !Kung people 44, 135, 136–7
  • Kuznets curve 106
  • Kwakiutl people 92

 

  • Lagos 322
  • Lagrange Point 346
  • lakes, acidification of 305–6
  • Lamalera people 87
  • Lancashire 214, 217, 232, 263
  • Landes, David 223, 406
  • Lang, Tim 392
  • language: and exchange 58; genes for 55; Indo-European 129; and isolationism 73; Neanderthals 4, 55; numbers of languages 73; as unique human development 4
  • Laos 209
  • lapis lazuli 162, 164
  • Lascaux caves, France 6
  • lasers 272
  • Lassa fever 307
  • Laurion, Attica 171
  • Law, John 29, 259
  • Lawson, Nigel, Baron 331
  • Lay, Ken 29, 385
  • Layard, Richard 25
  • lead 167, 174, 177, 213
  • Leadbetter, Charles 290
  • Leahy, Michael 92
  • leather 70, 122, 167, 176
  • Lebanon 167
  • LeBlanc, Steven 137
  • LEDs (light-emitting diodes) 21–2
  • lentils 129
  • Leonardo da Vinci 196, 251
  • Levy, Stephen 355
  • Liang Ying (farm worker) 220
  • liberalism 108, 109–110, 290
  • Liberia 14, 316
  • libertarianism 106
  • Libya 171
  • lice 68
  • lichen 75
  • life expectancy: in Africa 14, 316, 422; in Britain 13, 15, 284; improvements in 12, 14, 15, 17–18, 205, 284, 287, 298, 316; in United States 298; world averages 47
  • Life
    (magazine) 304
  • light, artificial 13, 16, 17, 20–22, 37, 233, 234, 240, 245, 272, 368
  • light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 21–2
  • Limits to Growth
    (report) 303–4, 420
  • Lindsey, Brink 102, 109
  • linen 216, 218
  • lions 43, 87
  • literacy 106, 201, 290, 353, 396
  • Liverpool 62, 283
  • local sourcing (of goods) 35, 41–2, 149, 392;
    see also
    food miles
  • Locke, John 96
  • Lodygin, Alexander 272
  • Lombardy 178, 196
  • Lomborg, Björn 280
  • London 12, 116, 186, 199, 218, 222, 282; as financial centre 259
  • longitude, measurement of 261
  • Longshan culture 397
  • Los Angeles 17, 142
  • Lothal, Indus valley 162, 164
  • Louis XI, King of France 184
  • Louis XIV, King of France 36, 37, 38, 184, 259
  • Lowell, Francis Cabot 263
  • Lübeck 180
  • Lucca 178, 179
  • Lunar Society 256
  • Luther, Martin 102
  • Luxembourg 331
  • Lyon 184

 

  • Macao 183
  • MacArthur, General Douglas 141
  • Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 1st Baron 11, 285–7, 359
  • McCloskey, Deirdre 109, 366–7
  • Mace, Ruth 73
  • McEwan, Ian 47
  • Machiguenga people 87
  • MacKay, David 342
  • McKendrick, Neil 224
  • McKibben, Bill 293
  • Macmillan, Harold, 1st Earl of Stockton 16
  • McNamara, Robert 203
  • mad-cow disease (vCJD) 280, 308
  • Madagascar 70, 299
  • Maddison, Angus 180
  • Maddox, John 207
  • Madoff, Bernard 28–9
  • Maghribis 178, 180
  • magnesium 213
  • maize 126, 146–7, 153, 155, 156, 163; for biofuel 240, 241
  • malaria 135, 157, 275, 299, 310, 318, 319, 331, 336, 353, 428, 429
  • Malawi 40–41, 132, 316, 318
  • Malawi, Lake 54
  • Malay Peninsula 66
  • Malaysia 35, 89, 242, 332
  • Mali 316, 326
  • Malinowski, Bronislaw 134
  • malnutrition 154, 156, 337
  • Maltese Falcon, The
    (film) 86
  • Malthus, Robert 139, 140, 146, 191, 249, 303
  • Malthusianism 141, 193, 196, 200, 202, 401
  • mammoths 68, 69, 71, 73, 302
  • Manchester 214, 218, 283
  • Mandell, Lewis 254
  • manganese 150, 213
  • mangoes 156, 327, 392
  • Manhattan 83
  • manure 147, 150, 198, 200, 282
  • Mao Zedong 16, 187, 262, 296, 311
  • Marchetti, Cesare 345–6
  • Marcuse, Herbert 291
  • Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France 199
  • markets (in capital and assets) 9, 258–60
  • markets (in goods and services): and collective betterment 9–10, 36–9, 103–110, 115–16, 281; disdain for 102–3, 104, 291–2, 358; etiquette and ritual of 133–4; and generosity 86–7; global interdependence 42–3; market failure 182, 250; ‘perfect markets’ 249–50; and population control 210–211; and preindustrial economies 133–4; and trust 98–100, 103; and virtue 100–104, 105;
    see also
    bartering; exchange; trade
  • Marne, River 234
  • Martu aborigines 62
  • Marx, Karl 102, 104, 107–8, 291, 406
  • Marxism 101, 217–18, 319, 356
  • Maskelyne, Nevil 221
  • Maudslay, Henry 221
  • Mauritius 187, 316
  • Mauryan empire 172–3, 201, 357
  • Maxwell, James Clerk 412
  • measles 14, 135, 310
  • meat eating 51, 60, 62, 68–9, 126, 147, 156, 241, 376
  • Mecca 177
  • Mediterranean Sea: prehistoric settlements 56, 68–9, 159; trade 89, 164, 167–8, 169, 171, 176, 178
  • meerkats 87
  • Mehrgarh, Baluchistan 162
  • Mehta, Suketa 189
  • Meissen 185
  • memes 5
  • Menes, Pharaoh of Egypt 161
  • mercury 183, 213, 237
  • Mersey, River 62
  • Merzbach valley, Germany 138
  • Mesopotamia 38, 115, 158–61, 163, 177, 193, 251, 357;
    see also
    Assyrian empire; Iraq metal prices, reductions in 213
  • Metaxas, Ioannis 186
  • methane 140, 329, 345
  • Mexico: agriculture 14, 123, 126, 142, 387; emigration to United States 117; hurricanes 335; life expectancy 15; nature conservation 324; swine flu 309
  • Mexico City 190
  • Meyer, Warren 281
  • Mezherich, Ukraine 71
  • mice 55, 125
  • Michelangelo 115
  • Microsoft (corporation) 24, 260, 268, 273
  • migrations: early human 66–70, 82; rural to urban 158, 188–9, 210, 219–20, 226–7, 231, 406;
    see also
    emigration
  • Milan 178, 184
  • Miletus 170–71
  • milk 22, 55, 97, 135
  • Mill, John Stuart 34, 103–4, 108, 249, 274, 276, 279
  • Millennium Development goals 316
  • Miller, Geoffrey 44, 274
  • millet 126
  • Mills, Mark 244
  • Ming empire 117, 181–4, 260, 311
  • Minoan civilisation 166
  • Mississippi Company 29
  • Mittal, Lakshmi 268
  • mobile phones 37, 252, 257, 261, 265, 267, 297, 326–7
  • Mohamed (prophet) 176
  • Mohawk Indians 138–9
  • Mohenjo-Daro, Indus valley 161–2
  • Mojave Desert 69
  • Mokyr, Joel 197, 252, 257, 411, 412
  • monarchies 118, 162, 172, 222
  • monasteries 176, 194, 215, 252
  • Monbiot, George 291, 311, 426
  • money: development of 71, 132, 392; ‘trust inscribed’ 85
  • Mongolia 230
  • Mongols 161, 181, 182
  • monkeys 3, 57, 59, 88; capuchins 96–7, 375
  • monopolies 107, 111, 166, 172, 182
  • monsoon 174
  • Montesquieu, Charles, Baron de 103
  • moon landing 268–9, 275
  • Moore, Gordon 221, 405
  • Moore, Michael 291
  • Morgan, J.P. 100
  • Mormonism 205
  • Morocco 53, 209
  • Morse, Samuel 272
  • mortgages 25, 29, 30, 323; sub-prime 296
  • Moses 138
  • mosquito nets 318
  • ‘most favoured nation’ principle 186
  • Moyo, Dambisa 318
  • Mozambique 132, 316
  • Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 267
  • Mugabe, Robert 262
  • Mumbai 189, 190
  • murder 14, 20, 85, 88, 106, 118, 201
  • Murrays’ Mills, Manchester 214
  • music 70, 115, 266–7, 326
  • Myceneans 166

 

  • Nairobi 322
  • Namibia 209, 324
  • Napoleon I 184
  • NASA 269
  • Nashville 326
  • Nassarius
    shells 53, 56, 65
  • National Food Service 268
  • National Health Service 111, 261
  • nationalisation (of industry) 166, 182
  • nationalism 357
  • native Americans 62, 92–3, 138–9
  • Natufians 125
  • natural selection 5–6, 27, 49–50, 350
  • nature conservation 324, 339;
    see also
    wilderness land, expansion of
  • Neanderthals 3, 4, 53, 55, 64, 65, 68, 71, 79, 373, 378
  • Nebuchadnezzar 169
  • needles 43, 70
  • Nehru, Jawaharlal 187
  • Nelson, Richard 5
  • Nepal 15, 209
  • Netscape (corporation) 259
  • New Deal 109
  • New Guinea: agriculture 123, 126, 387; languages 73; malaria 336; prehistoric 66, 123, 126; tribes 87, 92, 138
  • New York 12, 16, 83, 169, 190
  • New York Times
    23, 295, 305
  • New Zealand 17, 35, 42, 70
  • Newcomen, Thomas 244, 256
  • newspapers 270, 295; licensing copyrights 267
  • Newsweek
    (magazine) 329
  • Newton, Sir Isaac 116, 256
  • nickel 34, 213
  • Niger 208–9, 210, 324
  • Nigeria 15, 31, 99, 117, 210, 236, 316
  • Nike (corporation) 115, 188
  • Nile, River 161, 164, 167, 171
  • nitrogen fertlisers 140, 146, 147, 149–50, 155, 305
  • nitrous oxide 155
  • Nobel Peace Prize 143, 280
  • ‘noble savage’ 43–4, 135–8
  • Norberg, Johann 187
  • Nordau, Max 288
  • Nordhaus, William 331
  • Norte Chico civilisation 162–3
  • North, Douglass 324, 397
  • North Carolina 219–20
  • North Korea 15, 116–17, 187, 333
  • North Sea 180, 185
  • North Sentinel islanders 67
  • Northern Rock (bank) 9
  • Northumberland 407
  • Norton, Seth 211
  • Norway 97–8, 332, 344
  • Norwich 225
  • nostalgia 12–13, 44, 135, 189, 284–5, 292
  • Novgorod 180
  • Noyce, Robert 221, 405
  • nuclear accidents 283, 293–4, 308, 345, 421
  • nuclear power 37, 236, 238, 239, 245, 246, 343, 344, 345
  • nuclear war, threat of 280, 290, 299–300, 333
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