One of the more interesting books I've read recently - A Farewell to Alms - http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Brief-Economic-History/dp/0691121354 http://www.

One of the more interesting books I've read recently - A Farewell to Alms - http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Brief-Economic-History/dp/0691121354 http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Brief-Economic-History/d... has the basic argument that as a direct result of modern technology, there are people living on the planet now (in sub-saharan Africa), with the lowest standards of living ever present on this planet, significantly worse than that experienced by Paleolithic hunters and gatherers. Uncivilized lifestyles turned out not to be that brutal, and in fact modern medicine is the primary mechanism by which the poorest countries have significantly lower standards of living than undiscovered tribes. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/science/07indu.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/science/07indu.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_trap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_trap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Divergence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Divergence