The World Is Getting Better w/ Marian Tupy #1067

How to Money

iHeartPodcasts

Investing, Education, Business

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Though it seems like the world is in shambles, humanity has progressed quite impressively when you look at virtually any length of history. Our modern society has produced a slew of nice things that would have been hard to fathom 50 years ago, much less 250 years ago- smartphones, duct tape, GPS. They’ve all, to greater or lesser degrees, made our lives better and that’s simply looking at consumer goods. Think of other clear markers like infant mortality, literacy rates, longer lifespans and how they all point to incredible progress. But how did those innovations and that abundance come about? Why does 2025 look so radically different in the developed world than 1825? Marian Tupy’s book Superabundance explains it all and demonstrates how far we’ve come in easy-to-understand language. Marian Tupy is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He’s also the founder and editor of HumanProgress.org, a site that seeks to evidence these dramatic improvements. Listen as we cover how:

Progress is not guaranteed and can regress under certain conditions
Life expectancy has dramatically increased over the last 200 years
Economic freedom and openness to trade drive prosperity
Nostalgia often overlooks the harsh realities of the past
Environmental concerns can be addressed through innovation and technology
Time prices illustrate the abundance of resources available today
Gratitude for our current circumstances can lead to greater happiness
And plenty more!

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Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet is the book and HumanProgress.org is the site!
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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast.
0:02.5	Guaranteed Human.
0:04.4	Welcome to How to Money.
0:05.9	I'm Joel.
0:06.6	And today I'm talking about how the world is getting better with Marion Toopee.
0:10.8	Thank you. Okay, so you've heard the phrase, this is why we can't have nice things.
0:33.6	Our modern society has produced a slew of nice things, though, that would have been hard to fathom 50 years ago, much less 250 years ago.
0:41.6	PCs and smartphones, Gortex and duct tape, GPS and the barcode.
0:46.6	All of these things, to greater or lesser degrees, have made our lives better.
0:50.6	But how did those innovations and that abundance come about?
1:46.5	Why does 2025 look so radically different in the developed world than 1825? Well, Marian Toopi's book, Super Abundance, was a revelation to me a few years ago, showing how far we've come in pretty easy to understand language. Marion Toopi is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He's also the founder and editor of Human Progress.org, a site that seeks to evidence these dramatic improvements. With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, I couldn't think of a better time to cover this topic. So, Marian Toopi, thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast. Thank you for having me. Okay, first question, we ask everybody who comes on. I like to splurge on craft beer, fancy craft beer. Honestly, with Thanksgiving, I might pop something really nice tomorrow. What is that for you, though? What do you like to splurge on while you're still being smart and thoughtful about your finances and your future? I save a lot of money to be able to travel. I really enjoy traveling and exploring different parts of the world. So I would say that is my luxury, although I do like beer as
1:51.7	well. Okay. All right. Then we can be friends then. What's the last great trip you went on? I must say,
1:58.3	I think my last great trip was to Argentina. I think that discovery of
2:04.6	Buenos Aires, it is a proper Western, well-functioning, beautifully laid out city in Latin America
2:12.8	that you wouldn't expect to find, and I enjoyed being there very much. Okay. All right. I went a long,
2:19.5	long time ago. It was probably 30 years ago. So I'll have to like put it back on my list. I have
2:22.8	to go as an adult. All right. Let's get to the topic. I'm curious, like, have we as a society
2:28.3	become too accustomed to our current level of wealth without understanding how it's come to be.
2:35.0	It seems like there's like a disconnect right now, and there's like a burn it down sort of mentality
2:41.1	without really understanding what we're attempting to burn down.
2:44.2	Yes, I think that is a very good perspective to have.
2:48.6	We have gotten to where we are by being a much more open society to new innovations.
	...

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