Never has there been more compelling evidence of the overwhelming benefits of free market capitalism. In the past three decades, the global spread of free enterprise and the retreat of state socialism have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of crushing hardship. The global rate of absolute poverty has declined from more than 40 per cent in the 1980s to under 10 per cent today. For those who value a more equal world, not merely a more prosperous one, capitalism also comes up smelling of roses. 2019 will not only be the richest year in the history of the planet, it will also mark the lowest gap between the West and the rest of humanity since pre-industrial times.

These leaps forward have been achieved