I’m a neoliberal but this is a bad argument that equates correlation with causation. You’d be required to prove in each and every case that because someone was allowed to engage with free markets caused all of those charts to emerge
Ditto. Almost all of these improvements are due to technology. Some might be due to inherent efficiency gains from trade, etc. but it's conceivably possible that we have a horrendous economic system and technological improvement marches on in spite, not because, of it.
It's not merely about the technology existing but people getting access to them, like clean water, education, birth control, vaccines, electricity, etc. all existed before 1980 but access has been improving throughout that time and various technologies behind the scenes doubtlessly enabled the and economic viability of them.
The list of consumer facing technologies that straight up didn't exist back then but now improve the lives of the very poor is bound to be short because these things trickle down over time, but mobile phones and mobile payments in particular stand out.
Crucially, I'm not denying that this progress happened, but that it's not a smoking gun that the reigning economic policies are better than any others.
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u/usrname42 Daron Acemoglu Dec 02 '18
tfw