Johan Norberg is a Swedish author and historian of ideas. He’s a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author of Progress, In Defense of Global Capitalism, The Capitalist Manifesto and more recently Peak Human. His work explores the roots of prosperity, the case for open societies, and why freedom leads to human flourishing, follow Johan on Twitter
We talk about what really drives progress, how innovation emerges, the false promises of degrowth, and why optimism is a moral stance. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.
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Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
02:31 – Why trade and openness drive innovation
05:03 – The mindset of responsibility and agency
07:36 – Capitalism, sustainability, and environmental progress
10:10 – Why human flourishing isn’t guaranteed
12:42 – How human creativity builds prosperity
15:17 – What profit really means in free markets
17:51 – Risk-taking and the power of entrepreneurship
20:27 – The decline of global inequality
23:03 – Can markets handle externalities fairly?
25:41 – Why regulation doesn’t mean anti-market
28:15 – Cultural mixing and progress through diversity
30:54 – Embracing uncertainty instead of fearing it
33:20 – Against utopia: why hope must stay grounded
35:59 – Degrowth and the real moral risks of stopping progress
38:36 – Lockdowns, poverty, and policy trade-offs
41:10 – The future of work, leisure, and meaning
43:45 – Green growth and energy optimism
46:12 – Literature, imagination, and moral insight
48:50 – Final reflections on freedom and fallibility
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