AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR Humanity's embrace of openness is the key to our success. The freedom to explore and exchange - whether it's goods, ideas or people - has led to stunning achievements in science, technology and culture. As a result, we live at a time of unprecedented wealth and opportunity. So why are we so intent on ruining it? From Stone Age hunter-gatherers to contemporary Chinese-American relations, Open explores how across time and cultures, we have struggled with a constant tension between our yearning for co-operation and our profound need for belonging. Providing a bold new framework for understanding human history, bestselling author and thinker Johan Norberg examines why we're often uncomfortable with openness - but also why it is essential for progress. Part sweeping history and part polemic, this urgent book makes a compelling case for why an open world with an open economy is worth fighting for more than ever.

From Seattle to Genoa to Johannesburg, people march in the streets protesting global capitalism. They denounce Nike and McDonald's, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Who would defend global capitalism? A young writer from Sweden, who started on the anarchist left and then came to understand the world better. Johan Norberg has traveled to Vietnam, Africa, and other hot spots in the battle over globalization. He has become a passionate defender of the globalization that is lifting poor countries out of poverty. In Defense of Global Capitalism is the first book to rebut, systematically and thoroughly, the claims of the anti-globalization movement. With facts, statistics, and graphs, Norberg shows why capitalism is in the process of creating a better world. The book is written in a conversational style with an emphasis on liberal values and the opportunities and freedom that globalization brings to the world's poor. In Defense of Global Capitalism shows that the diffusion of capitalism in the past few decades has lowered poverty rates and created opportunities for individuals all over the world. Living standards and life expectancy have risen substantially. There is more food, more education, and more democratization, less inequality and less oppression of women. Norberg takes on the tough issues-economic growth, freedom vs. equality, free trade and fair trade, international debt, child labor, cultural imperialism-and concludes that free-market capitalism is the best route out of global poverty.

A Book of the Year for The Economist and the Observer Our world seems to be collapsing. The daily news cycle reports the deterioration: divisive politics across the Western world, racism, poverty, war, inequality, hunger. While politicians, journalists and activists from all sides talk about the damage done, Johan Norberg offers an illuminating and heartening analysis of just how far we have come in tackling the greatest problems facing humanity. In the face of fear-mongering, darkness and division, the facts are unequivocal: the golden age is now.

'An excellent explanation of why capitalism is not just successful, but morally right' Elon Musk 'A joyful counterblast... packed with vivid examples... decisive' The Economist 'Compelling... Masterful' Daily Mail 'A timely reminder of the benefits of free and open trade'Financial Times A vital exploration of capitalism and the benefits it brings to global society. Marx and Engels were right when they observed in the Communist Manifesto that free markets had in a short time created greater prosperity and more technological innovation than all previous generations combined. A century and a half later, all the evidence shows that capitalism has lifted millions and millions from hunger and poverty. Today's story about global capitalism, shared by right-wing and left-wing populists, but also by large sections of the political and economic establishment, does not deny that prosperity has been created, but it says it ended up in far too few hands. This in turn has made it popular to talk about the global economy as a geopolitical zero-sum game, where we have to fight to control new innovations, introduce trade barriers and renationalize value chains. While, more broadly, capitalism is accused of fueling glaring inequality, populist revolts, climate change and China's global conquest. In this incisive and passionate investigation, Johan Norberg instead states the case for capitalism and the vital role played by the free market in today's uncertain world. Ultimately, he argues that that a move away from global capitalism would not only squeeze the growth out of the economy but also deepen an already large social exclusion for the vulnerable - for the world's poor, it would be a killing blow.

The thirst for energy in developing countries will only grow as economic freedom spreads. People there see how we in the west live and refuse to be left behind. In "Power to the People" Swedish economist and author Johan Norberg explores the incredible challenge this demand presents to man- and woman-kind. As costs rise and concern for climate change increases, these questions loom large: How are we going to maintain our standard of living? How do we reduce our impact on the planet? And how will we get power to ALL the people? Based on Norberg's travels for the television documentary “Power to the People,” his investigation peels back the layers of this global challenge, often questioning the conventional wisdom on what works and what doesn’t. His journey starts in the Moroccan bazaars of Marrakech, which functioned fine for eons without modern conveniences, but where electric lights, computers, cell phones and credit card readers are now everywhere. Even more telling is Norberg’s journey to a remote Berber village in the Sahara Desert. More than half the world still cooks its food over open flames but this is rapidly changing, including here, where women now cook on gas stoves, and some even have refrigerators.

Now newly expanded, with a with a new chapter on the spreading global economic crisis, Financial Fiasco guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior by consumers, decisionmakers in companies, government agencies, and political institutions.

Annotation Now newly expanded, with a with a new chapter on the spreading global economic crisis, Financial Fiasco guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior by consumers, decisionmakers in companies, government agencies, and political institutions.