New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Best Book for 2022: Financial Times - Economist - Fast Company From one of the world's leading economists, a grand narrative of the century that made us richer than ever, yet left us unsatisfied. The road to prosperity is rough. However, we must not abandon it. Before 1870, humanity lived in dire poverty. Then came a great transformation: our technological capabilities multiplied, and the economy was transformed. But why, despite the favorable conditions for achieving utopia, is the world today threatened by serious crises such as economic recession, inequality, and global warming? In this book, distinguished economist J. Bradford DeLong chronicles how the explosive growth of the twentieth century (1870-2010) created surpluses of food, housing, and material goods for the first time, yet failed to establish social equality, economic stability, and respect for individual freedoms. Although this century began as a triumphant march of progress, it showed that the market economy is not enough to reach the goal: bold decisions, daring, flexible, and capable government management are needed. As we enter an even more uncertain new era, we must heed the lessons of the long twentieth century that has just passed (the importance of economic improvement, the power but also the limits of markets, and the criticality of capable government management, among others) if we are to hope that the slow march forward will continue. Wealth became a reality. Prosperity remains a utopia.