Up the down escalator

"In Up the Down Escalator Charles Leadbeater takes on the high priests of pessimism from left and right. He examines the arguments of commentators like Naomi Klein, John Gray and Roger Scruton, showing that the vogue for pessimism has gone too far. Pessimism is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy: we are talking ourselves into a state of helplessness." "Instead, he argues, there are good grounds for modest optimism that the state of the world could improve in coming decades, provided that sustained innovation in science, technology and business are matched by social and political change to…