I thought it would be good to have a central spot with data on where we are in this century, absolutely and in comparison to previous centuries.  (Inter-decadal comparisons are also useful.)  I will try to find two kinds of links – an ‘overview’ link of the data source, and a link to a sample of the actual data that’s available (recognizing that there are usually many different iterations of the data.)  Please add what you find in the comments section.

The UN’s Human Development Index

• http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/hdi/
• http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table2_reprint.pdf

Freedom House and freedom in the world

• http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=15
• http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=439

World Values Survey

• http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
• On development, freedom and happiness – http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/article_base_107

Population

• Population reference bureau – http://www.prb.org/
• http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2009/2009wpds.aspx

Millennium Development Goals

• http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
• http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202010%20En%20r15%20-low%20res%2020100615%20-.pdf

Ecological indicators

• State of the world – http://www.worldwatch.org/
• Vital signs – http://vitalsigns.worldwatch.org/all-trends
• UNEP reports – http://www.unep.org/publications/