The Great Escape
Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality
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The Great Escape
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Brenher
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By:
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Angus Deaton
About this listen
The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations.
In The Great Escape, Angus Deaton - one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty - tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind.
Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on one hand and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts - including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions - that will allow the developing world to bring about its own great escape.
Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2016 Angus Deaton (P)2016 Blackstone AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Great Escape
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- david fryer
- 05-09-21
extremely informative, immensely thought provoking
extremely informative, immensely thought provoking, presents compelling information and ideas to reasses long held ideas
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-08-17
An informative synopsis of growth
Deaton's tome combines a tad dry presentation with incredibly informative and well-argued contents. Summarizes decades worth of research. Provides some good work on development, growth and wealth creation, with a special focus on public health improvements.
Among its highlights, the book offers a strident critique of foreign aid and technocratic management from an institutional point of view.
The audiobook suffers from the presence of many graphs, which must be read separately.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
- David Close
- 08-09-21
Missing charts
This book refers endlessly to graphs and tables that are not available with the audiobook.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 28-02-22
Very Interesting
Not sure about the section on aid, I would have to do more reading but it definitely gives you something to think about and some interesting points made.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Richard Tol
- 07-01-22
a bit slow
The book is slow with endless repetition. The book only comes alive in the final chapter. Performance is poor. An audio book is more than reading a text. The narrator is rather poor with foreign names.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Megan
- 24-04-22
Good book, slightly dated, good narration
An interesting book, particularly the last section on aid to poor countries thought to be of little use economically (though may help save lives).
There is a long and competent section on life expectancies and how those have changed. I do not think Deaton’s famous quote about “deaths of despair” appears in this book however. Deaton tends to think of life expectancy as life expectancy at birth, though this is not necessarily true.
It was a slight disappointment not to have sight of the many figures and graphs described in the book - I had been hoping for a pdf. This is no great hardship because the main conclusions arising from the charts are explained well enough. And I might buy the physical book to study them myself.
The book is beginning to show signs of ageing though. But it is still recent enough to be relevant.
It’s well narrated though I wouldn’t say the narrator is top of the league. There are some horrible mispronunciations. But this is perhaps nitpicking and unimportant to the enjoyment of the book.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Cipolla
- 16-04-16
Graphs? What graphs? This is an audiobook
Probably a very interesting book, however constant references to graphs I can't see because I am listning to an audiobook, made me feel like I was missing out on a lot of points. Go for the printed or tablet version.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amanda
- 02-08-19
Needs a PDF.
This book was not suitable for release as an audio without including a PDF due to the constant references to graphs and data which could not be viewed. I had to return this book.
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1 person found this helpful