Life in the world has become better, and people are healthier and richer.

Yet not everyone has participated in the escape from poverty, which is why the world remains deeply unequal between individuals and entire countries.

In The Great Escape, Angus Deaton, one of the leading experts on economic development and poverty, explains how some countries have managed to get ahead over the past 250 years.

Deaton takes a closer look at the patterns determine the wealth and health of nations, and shows what needs to be done to help those who still have not achieved the Great Escape from poverty and disease.

Deaton describes a major innovation and a major obstacle: the success of antibiotics , pest control on the one hand, and crippling famine and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He looks at the United States of America, a once prosperous country that today faces low growth and rising inequality. He also describes how Economic growth in China and India has improved the lives of more than a billion people.

Deaton argues that international aid is often ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative solutions, including revising incentives for pharmaceutical companies and lifting trade restrictions. which should help developing countries achieve their own Great Escape.