Johan Norberg's "Peak Human" counters the belief that protectionist policies initiate golden ages. He argues that historically, societies experiencing periods of significant advancement were characterized by openness to trade, immigration, and the free exchange of ideas.
The book examines various historical golden ages, including those of Athens, the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Anglosphere, demonstrating a correlation between openness and prosperity. When these societies became more insular, their progress stagnated.
The article briefly mentions a contrasting viewpoint, suggesting that erecting barriers to foreign goods and people is a pathway to a golden age. This opposing perspective is not explored in detail within the provided text.
The core message is that societal progress and the creation of golden ages are linked to embracing openness and inclusivity, rather than isolationist policies.
The way to start a “golden age” is to erect big, beautiful barriers to keep out foreign goods and people. That, at least, is the view of the most powerful man on the planet. Johan Norberg, a Swedish historian, makes the opposite case. In “Peak Human”, Mr Norberg charts the rise and fall of golden ages around the world over the past three millennia, ranging from Athens to the Anglosphere via the Abbasid caliphate. He finds that the polities that outshone their peers did so because they were more open: to trade, to strangers and to ideas that discomfited the mighty. When they closed up again, they lost their shine.
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