War. Pandemic. A climate being catastrophically transformed. A world that seems to be hurtling towards its end.

This is the world of the 14th Century, not now. The Black DeathA bacterial infection that killed as much as 60% of the population of Europe and 33% of the Middle Eastern population. killed half of all people in Europe and the Little Ice AgeA climate interval of much cooler weather that occurred in Britain in the 17th century and lead to several big freezes. caused widespread famine.

The truth is, for most of our ancestors, the 21st Century - largely stable, peaceful, and prosperous - would seem like an impossible dream.

Economist Sergei Guriev thinks we should all be more optimistic.

Here then are some reasons to be cheerful: 

Far-right rejections. In France, and likely soon in the USA, voters have rejected the far-right.

Getting richer. One 8% of the world's population now lives in extreme poverty, compared with 40% just 50 years ago.

Equality rising. In most of the rich world, income inequality - the gap between the richest and poorest people in a country - is getting smaller.

Child mortality. Since 1990, the number of deaths of children under five has dropped by 59%.

This is why some think the news is too much doom and gloom. They say it just fills people with fatalism and makes them lose any will to make things better.

Is the news too negative?

Yes! A constant diet of bad news makes people either depressed or angry and makes it harder get people interested in solving problems.

No! Most of us live in soft little cocoons of safety. On those rare occasions our bubble is breached, it comes as a huge shock.