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In 1981, the year Ronald Reagan became America's 40th President, 44.3 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty (i.e., less than $1.90 per person per day). Last year, it was 9.6 percent. That's a decline of 78 percent.

The historically unprecedented poverty alleviation that has occurred in the last 50 years means that more countries are increasing their forest area.

"Those who condemn the immorality of liberal capitalism do so in comparison with a society of saints that has never existed-and never will." - Martin Wolf

"Poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, child labor & infant mortality are falling faster than at any other time in human history ... The golden age is now." --Johan Norberg

The global infant mortality rate has plummeted. Unfortunately, it has increased in war-torn Syria and socialist Venezuela.

In 1964, a worker on the average wage had to work 823 hours to buy a Programma 101, the first commercial desktop computer. In 2014? Only 34 hours to buy a Macbook Air, a mindbogglingly better product. That's a reduction of 94%. See other price changes:

Economist Don Boudreaux says, "I wouldn't be remotely tempted to quit the 2016 me so that I could be a one-billion-dollar-richer me in 1916. This fact means that, by 1916 standards, I am today more than a billionaire."

“Most African nations took the socialist route after independence... Socialism, the antithesis of capitalism, was advocated as the only road to Africa’s prosperity… and in its wake followed economic atrophy, repression and dictatorship."

Capitalism is one the most cooperative of human endeavors. Repeated transactions among trading parties encourage trustworthiness-- a moral side product of capitalism that we do not spend enough time talking about, let alone celebrating.

In 1916, no matter how rich you were, you wouldn't be able to enjoy air conditioning, TV, smart phones, the Internet, timely transportation, contact lenses, international food, antibiotics, effective dental care, a high likelihood of surviving infancy...