Interesting graph published by The Economist.
It shows the percentage of all the goods and services (what economists' call GDP) produced in history that was produced in each of the 21 centuries.
Interesting to note that 55% of history's GDP was produced in the XXth century. But perhaps more interestingly, 23% of the goods and services produced through history were produced during the LAST 10 YEARS!!!
Finally, it is also interesting that 28% of the person-years lived through history were lived in the XXth century (reflecting both the increase in population and the increase in life expectancy) and only 6% of years lived were lived in the last 10 years. Of course the implication is that the income earned by the average person has increased exponentially. Another example that our economic system is not as bad as many want us to believe!