Futurecast: How Superpowers, Populations, and Globalization Will Change the Way You Live and Work

Shapiro, Robert J. Shapiro

ISBN 10: 0312352425 / ISBN 13: 9780312352424

Published by St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 2008

About this Item

Complete number line from 1 to 10; some edge wear to boards and dust jacket; otherwise a solid, clean copy with no marking or underlining; collectible condition.

Seller Inventory # 011318

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Futurecast: How Superpowers, Populations, and Globalization Will Change the Way You Live and Work
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press, New York, NY
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312352425
• ISBN 13: 9780312352424
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: American First.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good, Not Price Clipped
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

What will life be like in America, Europe, Japan or China in the year 2020? 

As everyone’s lives across the world are become increasingly interconnected by globalization and new technologies quicken the pace of everything, the answer to that question depends on the fate and paths of the world’s major nations.   In Futurecast, Robert Shapiro, former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce and Chairman/Co-founder of Sonecon, looks into the future to tell us what our world will over the next dozen years.  Though that time span seems brief, Shapiro foresees monumental changes caused by three historic new forces—globalization, the aging of societies, and the rise of America as a sole superpower with no near peer— will determine the paths of nations and the lives of countless millions. What jobs will there be for you and your children?  What will happen to your health care? How safe will you be at home or abroad?  Answers to these questions will depend, even more than today, on where you live in the world:

• Even as China expands its military and its economy, America will be the world’s sole superpower for at least the next generation, and continue to lead efforts to preserve global security and stability. 

• The U.S. and China will be the world’s two indispensable economies, dominating the course of globalization. 

• Globalization will continue to shift most heavy manufacturing and millions of high-end service jobs from advanced countries like the US, to China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Turkey and other developing nations.

• Europe’s major nations and Japan will face the prospect of genuine economic decline and critical problems in their retirement pension systems, moving further towards the periphery of global economic and geopolitical power.

• Every major country—the U.S., Europe, Japan, China—will face critical problems with their health care systems, and the entire world will face a crisis over energy and climate change.  

If one adds the wildcard of possible, catastrophic terrorist attacks to this mix, the period between now and 2020 will be as challenging as any in modern times. Taking these deep global developments into account when planning for the future isa necessity.  Robert Shapiro’s clear-eyed Futurecast is the knowledge portfolio you need to prepare for the years to come.

About the Author

ROBERT J. SHAPIRO is co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LLC, a private firm that advises U.S. and foreign businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations. He served as Under Secretary of Commerce from 1998 to 2001.  He also was the co-founder and Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute, Bill Clinton’s principal economic advisor in the 1991-1992 campaign, a senior economic advisor to Al Gore and John Kerry in their campaigns, Legislative Director for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Assoc. Editor of U.S. News & World Report, and economics columnist for Slate magazine. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and lives in Washington, D.C.