Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century

Bradford DeLong has managed to construct a truly monumental narrative that reframes the 'long twentieth century' from 1870 to 2010. It is a massive undertaking. He successfully weaves together a story explaining why the human race grew so incredibly wealthy without actually reaching a state of utopian bliss. I loved the tension he builds between the ideas of Hayek and Polanyi. The market 'giveth and taketh away,' as he often quips. While the book is occasionally US-centric, its sweep of history is breathtaking and deeply researched. If you want to understand how the triad of the corporation, the industrial lab, and modern communication changed everything, start here. It is easily one of the most insightful books on political economy I have ever encountered.

As someone who usually finds economic history as dry as dust, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. DeLong writes with a light, playful touch that makes 600 pages fly by. He frames the history of the 20th century as a struggle between different 'gods' of economics, with Keynes acting as a sort of mediator. It’s brilliant. The way he quantifies growth rates to put our current stagnation into perspective was particularly enlightening. Not gonna lie, some of the 'internet speak' felt a bit out of place for a Berkeley professor, but it made the content accessible. This is the kind of 'grand narrative' history that we need more of. It provides a coherent pattern for the chaotic events of the last 150 years.

This is the definitive account of the era DeLong calls the 'long twentieth century.' It is an essential read for anyone trying to make sense of why our material abundance hasn't solved our political problems. The concept that 1870 was the true turning point for humanity is argued convincingly. DeLong's prose is vibrant and filled with 'snark' and 'multiverses,' making the heavy subject matter feel surprisingly light. He does a fantastic job of critiquing both the extreme left and right without being fence-sitting. Yes, the mid-chapters on the World Wars are a bit light on hard economics, but the narrative flow is so good that I didn't mind. This book will be on my shelf for a long time.

Ever wonder why we aren't living in a literal paradise despite being eight times richer than our ancestors were in 1870? DeLong tackles this head-on with his 'slouching' metaphor. I found his description of the 'marriage' between Hayek’s market efficiency and Polanyi’s social protections to be a brilliant way to frame the post-WWII era. The book is full of delightful vignettes, like Herbert Hoover’s early career in China, which keep the narrative moving. Frankly, it is a much more engaging read than your typical economics textbook. My only gripe is that the conclusion feels a bit rushed and overly pessimistic about our current century. Still, it is a very strong work that consolidates a huge amount of information into a readable format.

Picked this up on a whim after seeing it mentioned in several newsletters. It is an eye-opening look at how technological growth became the primary driver of the modern world. DeLong is a born storyteller. He manages to make complex policy shifts feel personal and urgent. I particularly enjoyed the sections on the 'war of the currents' and the rise of the global south. However, the organization is a bit messy in places. You’ll be reading about global trade one moment and then suddenly find yourself in a deep dive into the nutritional value of white bread. It’s quirky, sure, but it can be distracting when you’re trying to follow his main thesis about the end of the neoliberal era.

Finally got around to finishing this beast of a book. It’s a solid 4 stars for the sheer ambition alone. DeLong manages to cover everything from the industrial revolution to the Great Recession without making it feel like a chore. I appreciated how he didn't hide his personal views. He calls himself a 'left neoliberal' and isn't afraid to label Hayek a genius and an idiot in the same breath. This honesty makes for a much more interesting read than a dry, supposedly 'neutral' text. Some sections on the Cold War felt a bit repetitive, and I wish he’d spent more time on the 'why' of our current unhappiness. Overall, though, it’s a terrific refresher for anyone interested in how we got here.

DeLong writes with a certain playfulness that you rarely see in high-level economic history. It reminded me a bit of Sapiens, but with much more grounding in actual data and policy. I loved the way he tracked the evolution of the research lab and the corporation as the engines of modern growth. The central question of the book—why we aren't satisfied despite our wealth—is haunting. While he doesn't provide a single, simple answer, the journey through the various failed ideologies of the 1900s is fascinating. It’s a bit of a 'slouch' itself at times, especially during the long digressions on 19th-century history, but the payoff is worth the effort. A very strong recommendation for history nerds.

The first half of this book is a sweeping, five-star masterpiece of economic narrative, but the momentum fades significantly toward the end. DeLong is excellent when discussing the period up to 1945. His analysis of the Great Depression and the failures of the gold standard is top-notch. However, as the book enters the recent decades, the tone becomes blindingly self-serving and overly focused on the US political landscape. He also includes a few factoids that seem blatantly wrong, specifically regarding the share of German women in the workforce during WWII. It is still a useful introduction for newcomers to the subject, but seasoned history buffs might find the lack of precision in the later chapters frustrating. It’s a good book that could have been great with better editing.

Look, the research here is clearly extensive, but the organizational choices are often baffling. I found myself frequently checking the index to see if I’d missed a section on actual economic policy because the author was too busy talking about nationalistic sentiment. While those insights are interesting, they often come at the expense of the 'economic history' promised on the cover. Also, some of the data points, like his figures for Soviet losses or pre-industrial breastfeeding, have been questioned by other historians. It makes me wonder about the validity of his other claims. It is an entertaining story, but maybe not the definitive academic resource I was expecting. It functions better as a personal essay on the 20th century than a rigorous textbook.

To be fair, I expected a rigorous economic analysis, but what I got was a collection of meandering digressions that often lost the plot. The author frequently goes off on tangents about nationalism or military tactics instead of sticking to the economic determinants he promised. For instance, the chapters on the World Wars focus more on diplomacy and battlefield prowess than on the actual fiscal machinery of the era. It felt like a missed opportunity. If you already have a basic grasp of 20th-century history, you won't find many fresh insights here. The writing style is also quite jarring, shifting from dense academic jargon to internet memes like 'money printers going brr.' It simply lacked the objective focus I was looking for in a 600-page history.