The World in 2020: Power, Culture And Prosperity - a Vision of the Future - Softcover

McRae, Hamish

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006383823 ISBN 13: 9780006383826

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1995

Synopsis

In The World in 2020, acclaimed commentator and best-selling author Hamish McRae paints a vivid competitive landscape in which culture and values will be the new sources of advantage for the industrialized nations. In the year 2020, all having embraced market capitalism, the North American, European and East Asian countries will be engaged in fierce economic competition. With each nation increasingly able to imitate the others, innovations will cross borders within more days and weeks, removing technological prowess as a source of sustained advantage. McRae sees the "old motors for growth"—land, capital and natural resources—being replaced by more qualitative assets—quality, organization, motivation and self-discipline of the people. Everywhere, governments will take a less active role in the social and economic life of the nation. In such a world, the best predictor of success will be how a nation strikes a proper balance between creativity and intellect on the one hand, and social responsibility on the other. Thus the leading world economic powers of the next generation are just as likely to include China and Australia as the United States and Japan.

About this title

About the Author:

Since 1984, Harvard Business School Press has been dedicated to publishing the most contemporary management thinking, written by authors and practitioners who are leading the way. Whether readers are seeking big-picture strategic thinking or tactical problem solving, advice in managing global corporations or for developing personal careers, HBS Press helps fuel the fire of innovative thought. HBS Press has earned a reputation as the springboard of thought for both established and emerging business leaders.

From Booklist:

McRae's book was published in Britain last summer and was one of four books purchased by President Clinton on his visit to Oxford at the time. McRae is a noted British journalist, having served in editorial positions with Euromoney, the Guardian, and London's Independent and as a broadcaster with the BBC. He offers no bold, futuristic scenarios but instead extrapolates from current demographic and economic trends to paint a picture of what the world will be like for its next generation. McRae argues that it is in a nation's own economic interest to pursue a course of "good behavior," and he suggests that the world will be better off economically and see more political stability 25 years from now. He virtually ignores Latin America and Africa, acknowledging their social and political importance but claiming they will continue to be insignificant economic producers. Given this major limitation and the emphasis on the knowable rather than the unpredictable, McRae, nonetheless, provides a sensible, readable look at the near future. David Rouse

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0006383823
• ISBN 13: 9780006383826
• Binding: Paperback