"The Rational Optimist"

I enjoyed reading "The Rational Optimist" by Matt Ridley. I think he has done great job analyzing how prosperity evolves - specialization and trading.
Couple of interesting observation about his book are -
(1) He seems to be thinking Gandhi and Waldo Emerson way of Self-Sufficiency may lead to poverty as population and globalization grows. Also he doesn't seem to think "green energy" is practical.
(2) Interesting data about "Innovation is like a bush fire" - ..."At 50,000 years ago, the hottest-spot was west Asia (ovens, bows-and-arrows), at 10,000 the Fertile Crescent (farming, pttery), at 5,000 Mesopotamia (metal, cities), at 2000 India (textile, zer0), at 1,000 China (porcelain, printing), at 500 Italy (double-entry book keeping, Leonardo), at 400 the Low Countries (the Amsterdam Exchange Bank), at 300 France (Canal du Midi), at 200 England (stream), at 100 Germany (fertiliser); at 75 America (mass production), at 50 California (credit card), at 25 Japan (Walkman). No country remains for long the leader in knowledge creation..."
(3) At the end mentions two major challenges to one who wants to be Optimist. (1) Africa (2) Climate. That's fine however isn't "Terrorism" another one of the challenge that we face?