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Summary: The Global Economy
Review: 1988 accord between United States and Canada to drop all trade barriers1992 reduction of trade barriers with twelve nations in the European Economic Community 1988 Australia and New Zealands free trade agreements went into effect 1988 Talks about a U.S Japan free trade accord For a global economy-one marketplace-to work, we must eventually have completely free trade among the nations, just as we do within the nation-states themselves (John Naisbitt - Megatrend 2000) The United States biggest import is money. Its largest export by far are bonds, stocks, and other financial instruments. The United States is the largest producer in the global economy, it represents 25 percent of the world production and 5 percent of the population. Any country that attempts to remain economically closed and apart from the global economy will be left hopelessly behind. Global Economy trends 1) Privatization of Business 2) Bankruptcy 3) Stock Markets 4) decreasing reliance on the blue collar worker 5) increased reliance on telecommunications and technology 6) Decreasing size and importance of unions 7) elimination of the command economies 8) the rising growth rate of the pacific rim - the shift from European production to Asian production and wealth (China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore). The pacific rim is experiencing the fastest period of economic growth more than five times of the industrial revolution. China and the four tigers have learned to skip over the industrial revolution and enter the informational revolution.
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Summary: Mega boring
Review: A good book to put someone to sleep. It can be read in about a day, if that is what you are looking for. It barely predicts anything but it certainly points out some past precedents that have future implications. A good book for Geography or Urban Planning Majors.
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Summary: Mega boring
Review: A good book to put someone to sleep. It can be read in about a day, if that is what you are looking for. It barely predicts anything but it certainly points out some past precedents that have future implications. A good book for Geography or Urban Planning Majors.
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Summary: Sequels are almost always disappointing
Review: Having been so impressed with the original "Megatrends," I was very much looking forward to this edition. Unfortunately,the authors' crystal ball failed too often this time around to inspire much confidence. One major flaw, I think, is that there is much less content analysis used in tracking these trends and far too much fluff in the way of interviews and anecdotes. Too, in "Megatrends," statistics were used to back up forecasts derived from content analysis. Here statistics and surveys seem to be the sole basis for the forecasts. Perhaps the authors' thought the original work was too dry, or perhaps they were just trying to capitalize on a winner with a quick and dirty follow-up. In any case, this book was not nearly as insightful, or useful
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Summary: Forrest for the trees
Review: I know, it's a little late to be reading this book in 2003...nostalgia, anyone? One trend missed apparently: the rise of terrorism. This goes hand in hand with the fall of communism, because now there's a new bad kid on the block: move over communism, center stage Jihadists. The reprise of fundamentalism was noted in the book, and the turn to the political right, and the concurrent diminution of the "welfare state." Naisbitt et al. wrote about "no more wars." They should have read Lorenz, "On Aggression," before saying all that. War may be inevitable, if aggression is instinctual, but war doesn't have to be always destructive: extreme sports, war games, ritual matches (presidents playing chess?) could do it. Diximus.
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Summary: No more Mr. Wiseguy
Review: I know, it's a little late to be reading this book in 2003...nostalgia, anyone? One trend missed apparently: the rise of terrorism. This goes hand in hand with the fall of communism, because now there's a new bad kid on the block: move over communism, center stage Jihadists. The reprise of fundamentalism was noted in the book, and the turn to the political right, and the concurrent diminution of the "welfare state." Naisbitt et al. wrote about "no more wars." They should have read Lorenz, "On Aggression," before saying all that. War may be inevitable, if aggression is instinctual, but war doesn't have to be always destructive: extreme sports, war games, ritual matches (presidents playing chess?) could do it. Diximus.
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Summary: Amazingly prescient
Review: I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with a good many of the reviews written on here about this book. I first read this book in the mid 90's and am in the process of re-reading it today, and to a great degree many of the chapters are indeed still relevant. The strongest chapter in the book has to do with the rise of women in leadership positions. This was very forward looking in 1990 when it was written. At that particular time, there was only one female U.S. senator (Nancy Kassebaum), today there are 13 (including two each in California and Maine).
Admittedly, there are some areas where the authors got it somewhat wrong. For example, the renaissence in the arts has not occurred at the expense of sports to the degree that the authors had thought it would. And the age of Nanotechnology has not been as progressive as they predicted. However, these are trivial points in an otherwise fine collection.
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Summary: Hindsight is better than foresight, unfortunately
Review: In contrast to the first Megatrends book that came out in 1984, this book is way off the mark. His economic analysis is always interesting, but this time, for the most part, his trends have not panned out. I found this book to be a much slower read than the first Megatrends. Even so, I still plan to look for Megatrends 2010 when it comes out.
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Summary: Don't be fooled!
Review: Sounds up to date, and I bought it thinking it new, but tired forecasts from 1990 can easily be beaten by anyone of average thinking from the vantagepoint of 2000. Avoid and think for yourself instead!
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Summary: Upon re-reading , summer 1999, amazing accuracy !
Review: Suggest the authors write a similar forecast for the incredable decade to follow 2000-2010. This decade is bound to be even more astonishing. Allan Mowat
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