"A long run view of human development as a capabilities measure of well-being is provided for the last one-and-a-half centuries on the basis of anaugmented index of human development combines achievements in health,education, material living standards, plus political freedom, as the freedom to choose is a defining feature of human development. This index provides an alternative to the UN Human Development Index and improves on the ‘hybrid’ historical index of human development..The world has achieved substantial gainsin human development since 1870,especially during1913-1970, but substantial room for improvementstill exists.Life expectancy has been the leading force behind itsprogress,especially until 1970. Human development spread unevenly.The absolute gap betweenwestern Europe and its offshootsplus Japan -theOECD-and the Restof the world deepened over time, though fell in relative terms, with catching-updriven bylongevity during the epidemiological transition, and by political freedomthereafter.This result compares favourably with thegrowing income gap. Furthermore, economic growth and human development do not always go hand-in-hand. More specifically, during the economic globalization backlash in the early twentieth century,human development experienced major gainsacross the board from the advance inlongevity and education."