Slouching Towards Utopia

We all enjoy our economic lifestyles of 21st century America, but why hasn’t everyone on planet earth joined us in our affluence and good luck? If you have ever wondered why only Kings and Queens lived outside of dire poverty before 1870 and why we haven’t figured out how to bring our economic utopia to everyone, this study group is for you. Former U.S. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary and current Professor at UC Berkeley, J. Bradford DeLong, has written the very readable and provocative book Slouching Towards Utopia: an Economic History of the Twentieth Century (Basic Books, 2022). In this study group, we will explore the dramatic story of how the 1870 to 2023 explosion of material wealth occurred, how it transformed the globe, and why it failed to deliver utopia. DeLong's narrative history places special emphasis on the choices that key political actors made in shaping the trajectory of the future. He illustrates all the ambiguities and contingencies that make any full account of the past so rich. Join us as we delve into the past to illuminate contemporary issues of our time.