Max Roser
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Kirchheimbolanden, West Germany
Academic career
InstitutionNuffield College, Oxford
Oxford Martin School
FieldEconomics of income distribution, poverty, global development, global health
InfluencesTony Atkinson, Amartya Sen, Angus Deaton, Hans Rosling
Websitewww.maxroser.com
www.ourworldindata.org

Max Roser (born 1983) is an economist and philosopher who focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.[1][2][3]

At the University of Oxford he is the director of the program on global development, based at the Oxford Martin School.[3]

He is the founder and director of the research publication Our World in Data.[4]

Early life and education

Roser was born in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany, a village close to the border with France. In 1999, he and a friend won a prize in the German youth science competition Jugend forscht with a model of a self-navigating vacuum cleaner.[5] Der Spiegel reported that he travelled the length of the Nile from the mouth to the source, and that he crossed the Himalayas and the Andes.[6]

He has two undergraduate degrees (in geoscience and philosophy) and two master's degrees (in economics, and philosophy).[6] Roser completed his dissertation in 2011 at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.[7]

Career

In 2012, Inequality and poverty researcher Tony Atkinson hired Roser at the University of Oxford where he collaborated with Piketty, Morelli, and Atkinson.[8] In 2015, he established a research team at the University of Oxford which is studying global development.[9]

He founded Our World In Data, a scientific web publication with the goal to present "research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems."[10] During the first years he financed his project by working as a bicycle tour guide around Europe.[11]

Our World In Data covers a range of aspects of development: global health, food provision, the growth and distribution of incomes, violence, rights, wars, technology, education, and environmental changes, among others. The publication makes use of data visualisations which are licensed under Creative Commons and are widely used in research, in the media, and as teaching material.[12]

In 2019 he worked with Y Combinator on Our World in Data.[13]

Motivation

Roser has said that global poverty, inequality, existential risks, human rights abuse, and humanity's environmental impact are among the world's most severe problems.[1][14]

About his motivation for this work he wrote "The mission of this work has never changed: from the first days in 2011 Our World in Data focussed on the big global problems and asked how it is possible to make progress against them. The enemies of this effort were also always the same: apathy and cynicism."[15] He said that "it is because the world is terrible still that it is so important to write about how the world became a better place."[16]

He is critical of the mass media's excessive focus on single events which he claims is not helpful in understanding "the long-lasting, forceful changes that reshape our world, as well as the large, long-standing problems that continue to confront us."[1][17][18] In contrast to the event-focussed reporting of the news media Roser advocates the adoption of a broader perspective on global change, and in particular a focus on those living in poverty.[18] The focus on the upper classes, especially in historical perspective, is misleading since it is not exposing the hardship of those in the worst living conditions.[19]

He advocates looking at larger trends in poverty, education, health and violence since these are slowly, but persistently changing the world and are neglected in the reporting of today's mass media.[18]

Cartogram by Max Roser showing the distribution of the global population. Each of the 15,266 pixels represents the home country of 500,000 people.

He is known for his research how global living conditions are changing and his visualisations of these trends.[20][21][22] He has shown that in many societies in the past a large share (over 40%) of children died.[23]

He said that there are three messages of his work: "The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better".[16]

Research

Global CO2 emissions by world region since 1750 – a chart from Our World in Data

Roser's research is concerned with global problems such as poverty, climate change, child mortality and inequality.[2]

In 2015 research with Tony Atkinson, Brian Nolan and others he studied how the benefits from economic growth are distributed.[24][25][26]

In October 2019 he co-authored a study of child mortality. It was the first global study that mapped child death on the level of subnational district.[27] The study, published in Nature, was described as an important step to make action possible that further reduces child mortality.[28]

He and Felix Pretis found that the growth rate in CO2 emission intensity exceeded the projections of all climate scenarios.[29] With Jesus Crespo Cuaresma he studied the history of international trade and its impact on economic inequality.[30]

Roser has criticized the practice of focusing on the international poverty line alone. In his research he suggests a poverty at 10.89 international-$ per day.[31] The researchers say this is the minimum level people needed to have access to basic healthcare. The reason for the low global poverty line is to focus the attention on the world's very poorest population.[32] He proposes using several different poverty lines to understand what is happening to global poverty.

In global health research he studied the impact of poverty on poor health and disease and contributed to a textbook on global health.[33][34]

His most cited article, coauthored with Hannah Ritchie and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, is concerned with global population growth.[35]

Roser is a regular speaker at conferences where he presents empirical data on how the world is changing.[36] He is part of the Statistical Advisory Panel of UNDP.[37] UN Secretary-General António Guterres invited him to internal retreats attended by the heads of the UN institutions to speak about his global development research.[38]

Tina Rosenberg emphasised in The New York Times that Roser's work presents a "big picture that’s an important counterpoint to the constant barrage of negative world news."[39] Angus Deaton cites Roser in his book The Great Escape.[40] His research is cited in academic journals including Science,[41] Nature,[42] and The Lancet.[43][44]

Life expectancy by world region, from 1770 to 2018

Awards

In 2019 he was listed in second place among the "World’s Top 50 Thinkers" by Prospect Magazine.[45]

In 2019 Our World in Data won the Lovie Award, the European web award, "in recognition of their outstanding use of data and the internet to supply the general public with understandable data-driven research – the kind necessary to invoke social, economic, and environmental change."[46]

In 2022 he was selected as one of "The Future Perfect 50".[47]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 Akhtar, Muizz (20 October 2022). "Max Roser doesn't want us to lose sight of progress". Vox. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Dr Max Roser". Oxford Martin School. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Our World in Data". Global Health Education and Learning Incubator, Harvard University. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ↑ imfernsehen GmbH & Co. KG (3 July 1999). "Tigerenten Club Folge 183 Jugend forscht '99". Fernsehserien.de (in German). Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 Schmundt, Hilmar (2 January 2016). "Statistiken Frohe Botschaft". Der Spiegel (in German). Vol. 1. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ mb (February 2016). "Gute Nachrichten" (PDF). zukunft forschung (in German). Vol. 2016, no. 2. University of Innsbruck. p. 49. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "INET Oxford Highlights: 2012—2014" (PDF). The Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ↑ "The Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development". Oxford Martin School. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Our World in Data". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "History of Our World in Data". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "Media Coverage of OurWorldInData.org — Our World in Data". ourworldindata.org. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Our World in Data is at Y Combinator". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "Die Menschheit war früher viel gewalttätiger". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "History of Our World in Data". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  16. 1 2 Roser, Max (20 July 2022). "The world is much better; The world is awful; The world can be much better". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Dr Max Roser | People | Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School". www.inet.ox.ac.uk. Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 "Data Stories #57: Visualizing Human Development with Max Roser". Data Stories. 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  19. ↑ Roser, Max (27 March 2015). "Income inequality: poverty falling faster than ever but the 1% are racing ahead". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "Here's how many people have died in war in the last 600 years". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  21. ↑ Matthews, Dylan (10 February 2015). "How Obama's optimism about the world explains his foreign policy". Vox. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  22. ↑ Rudež, Tanja (30 October 2014). "Zbog ebole i terorizma čini nam se da je svijet užasan, ali istina je suprotna: Nikad nam nije bilo ovako dobro". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  23. ↑ Roser, Max (11 April 2023). "Mortality in the past – around half died as children". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  24. ↑ Nolan, Brian; Roser, Max; Thewissen, Stefan (2019). "GDP Per Capita Versus Median Household Income: What Gives Rise to the Divergence Over Time and how does this Vary Across OECD Countries?". Review of Income and Wealth. 65 (3): 465–494. doi:10.1111/roiw.12362. ISSN 1475-4991. S2CID 158875885.
  25. ↑ Smeeding, Tim; Roser, Max; Nolan, Brian; Kenworthy, Lane; Thewissen, Stefan (15 May 2018). "Rising Income Inequality and Living Standards in OECD Countries: How Does the Middle Fare?". Journal of Income Distribution. 27 (2): 1–23. ISSN 1874-6322. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  26. ↑ Atkinson, Hasell, Morelli, and Roser. "The Chartbook of Economic Inequality – Data on Economic Inequality over the long-run". www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ Burstein, Roy; Henry, Nathaniel J.; Collison, Michael L.; Marczak, Laurie B.; Sligar, Amber; Watson, Stefanie; Marquez, Neal; Abbasalizad-Farhangi, Mahdieh; Abbasi, Masoumeh; Abd-Allah, Foad; Abdoli, Amir (October 2019). "Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017". Nature. 574 (7778): 353–358. Bibcode:2019Natur.574..353B. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1545-0. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 6800389. PMID 31619795.
  28. ↑ Bachelet, Michelle (16 October 2019). "Data on child deaths are a call for justice". Nature. 574 (7778): 297. Bibcode:2019Natur.574..297B. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03058-6. PMID 31619786.
  29. ↑ Pretis, Felix; Roser, Max (15 September 2017). "Carbon dioxide emission-intensity in climate projections: Comparing the observational record to socio-economic scenarios". Energy. 135: 718–725. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.119. ISSN 0360-5442. PMC 5625523. PMID 29033490.
  30. ↑ Roser, Max; Cuaresma, Jesus Crespo (1 July 2012). "Borders Redrawn: Measuring the Statistical Creation of International Trade". Rochester, NY. SSRN 2111864. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  31. ↑ Sterck, Olivier; Roser, Max; Ncube, Mthuli; Thewissen, Stefan (5 February 2018). "Allocation of development assistance for health: is the predominance of national income justified?". Health Policy and Planning. 33 (suppl_1): i14–i23. doi:10.1093/heapol/czw173. ISSN 0268-1080. PMC 5886300. PMID 29415236.
  32. ↑ Hasell, Joe; Roser, Max (5 February 2019). "How do we know the history of extreme poverty?". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  33. ↑ Thewissen, Stefan; Ncube, Mthuli; Roser, Max; Sterck, Olivier (1 February 2018). "Allocation of development assistance for health: is the predominance of national income justified?". Health Policy and Planning. 33 (suppl_1): i14–i23. doi:10.1093/heapol/czw173. ISSN 0268-1080. PMC 5886300. PMID 29415236.
  34. ↑ Kohler, Stefan; Roser, Max; Geldsetzer, Pascal; Bärnighausen, Till (2021). "Ökonomie und globale Gesundheit" [Economics and Global Health]. In Bonk, Mathias; Ulrichs, Timo (eds.). Global Health (in German). De Gruyter. pp. 523–556. doi:10.1515/9783110448474-020. ISBN 978-3-11-044847-4.
  35. ↑ "Max Roser - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  36. ↑ "Max Roser WIRED 2015 talk: good data will make you an economic optimist (Wired UK)". Wired UK. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  37. ↑ "| Human Development Reports". www.hdr.undp.org. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  38. ↑ Roser, Max (10 July 2018). "The past and future of global change – Max's slides for his talk at the UN". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  39. ↑ Rosenberg, Tina (9 April 2015). "Turning to Big, Big Data to See What Ails the World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  40. ↑ Deaton, Angus (23 September 2013). The Great Escape. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15354-4. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  41. ↑ Nagendra, Harini; DeFries, Ruth (21 April 2017). "Ecosystem management as a wicked problem". Science. 356 (6335): 265–270. Bibcode:2017Sci...356..265D. doi:10.1126/science.aal1950. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 28428392. S2CID 11224600.
  42. ↑ Topol, Eric J. (January 2019). "High-performance medicine: the convergence of human and artificial intelligence". Nature Medicine. 25 (1): 44–56. doi:10.1038/s41591-018-0300-7. ISSN 1546-170X. PMID 30617339. S2CID 57574615.
  43. ↑ Mpanju-Shumbusho, Winnie; Woo, Hyun Ju; Wegbreit, Jennifer; Tulloch, James; Staley, Kenneth; Singh, Balbir; Shanks, Dennis; Rolfe, Ben; Roh, Michelle (21 September 2019). "Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary". The Lancet. 394 (10203): 1056–1112. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31139-0. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 31511196. S2CID 202044083. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  44. ↑ Yamin, Alicia Ely; Uprimny, Rodrigo; Periago, Mirta Roses; Ooms, Gorik; Koh, Howard; Hossain, Sara; Goosby, Eric; Evans, Timothy Grant; DeLand, Katherine (4 May 2019). "The legal determinants of health: harnessing the power of law for global health and sustainable development". The Lancet. 393 (10183): 1857–1910. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30233-8. ISSN 0140-6736. PMC 7159296. PMID 31053306.
  45. ↑ Prospect Team (16 July 2019). "The world's top 50 thinkers 2019". Prospect. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  46. ↑ "Meet The 2019 Lovie Awards Special Achievement Winners". The Lovie Awards. 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  47. ↑ Chittal, Nisha (20 October 2022). "The Future Perfect 50". Vox. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.

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