Public lecture: The Journey of Humanity - Oded Galor (Brown University)

Where: Seminar Room, Trajan House, Oxford (and online via Panopto)

When: 10 June 2022, 4-5pm

A recording of the lecture is available here.

The lecture will focus on Oded Galor's recent book The Journey of Humanity (Vintage, Penguin Random House, April 2022)

Abstract

In The Journey of Humanity Oded Galor offers a revelatory explanation of how humanity became, only very recently, the unique species to have escaped a life of subsistence poverty, enjoying previously unthinkable wealth and longevity. He reveals why this process has been so unequal around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today. He shows why so many of our efforts to improve lives have failed and how they might succeed.

Endorsements:

'Completely brilliant and utterly original ... a book for our epoch' Jon Snow, former presenter Channel 4 News

'A wildly ambitious attempt to do for economics what Newton, Darwin or Einstein did for their fields: develop a theory that explains almost everything ... An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork' Simon Kuper, New Statesman

'A masterful sweep through the human odyssey ... if you liked Sapiens, you'll love this' Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins

'Unparalleled in its scope and ambition' Washington Post

'It's a page-turner, a suspense-filled thriller full of surprises, mind-bending  puzzles and profound insights!”—Glenn C. Loury, author of The Anatomy of Racial Inequality

'Astounding in scope and insight ... provides the keys to the betterment of our species' Nouriel Roubini, author of Crisis Economics

About the speaker

Oded Galor is the founder of Unified Growth Theory. He has contributed to the understanding of the process of development over the entire course of human history and the role of deep-rooted factors in the transition from stagnation to growth and in the emergence of the vast inequality across the globe. Moreover, he has pioneered the exploration of the impact of evolutionary processes, population diversity, and inequality on the process of development over most of human existence. His research has redirected research in the field of economic growth to the exploration of the long shadow of history and to the role of biogeographical forces in comparative economic development. It has spawned the influential literatures studying the impact of inequality on the process of development, the interaction between human adaptation and economic development, the transition from stagnation to growth, and the impact of human diversity on comparative economic development. More information can be found here.

Selected Publications

    • Arbatli, Eren, Ashraf, Quamrul, Galor, Oded and Klemp Marc, "Diversity and Conflict" Econometrica, (2020), 88 (2), 727-797.
    • Galor Oded and Ömer Özak, "The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference"  American Economic Review, (2016), 106 (10), 3064-3103.
    • Ashraf Quamrul and Oded Galor "The 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis, Human Diversity, and Comparative Economic Development", American Economic Review, (2013), 103 (1), 1-46.
    • Galor, Oded, Unified Growth Theory, Princeton University Press, 2011.
    • Galor, Oded., Omer Moav "Das Human-Kapital: A theory of the Demise of the Class Structure." The Review of Economic Studies, (2006), 73(1), 85-117.
    • Galor, Oded and Omer Moav, "Natural Selection and the Origin of Economic Growth", Quarterly Journal of Economics, (2002), 117 (4), 1133-1191.
    • Galor, Oded and David N. Weil, "Population, Technology, and Growth: From Malthusian Stagnation to the Demographic Transition and Beyond", American Economic Review, (2000), 90 (4), 806-828.
    • Galor, Oded, and David N. Weil. "The gender gap, fertility, and growth." The American Economic Review (1996), 86 (3), 374.
    • Galor, Oded and Joseph Zeira, "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics", Review of Economic Studies, (1993), 60 (1), 35-52.