2012: Best Year Ever?

The Spectator claims that 2012 was the best year in the history of mankind. They make a good, if not compelling, case. 2012 was definitely a good year for me personally. I wonder if 2013 will be even better?

It may not feel like it, but 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world. That sounds like an extravagant claim, but it is borne out by evidence. Never has there been less hunger, less disease or more prosperity. The West remains in the economic doldrums, but most developing countries are charging ahead, and people are being lifted out of poverty at the fastest rate ever recorded. The death toll inflicted by war and natural disasters is also mercifully low. We are living in a golden age.