Customer Reviews

The Long Boom: A Vision For The Coming Age Of Prosperity

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Those who have already read The Art of the Long View no doubt share my high regard for the vision, precision, and eloquence which Peter Schwartz brings to subjects of special interest to him. They are once again in evidence (indeed in abundance) in this book which he co-authored with Peter Leyden and Joel Hyatt. Theirs is a shared vision of "the coming age of prosperity." What exactly does that mean? The answer is suggested in the Introduction: "The Long Boom is a positive meme about a better future. A meme is a contagious idea that can quickly spread around the world and influence what people think and do....The idea soon takes on a life of its own, out of anybody's control, flitting from computer host to computer host in an exponential expansion that spreads around the world....[The book] starts with the recognition that the world is faced with a historic opportunity. What we call the Long Boom -- the years from 1980 to 2020 --is a period of global transformation. No other age ever possessed the tools or the knowledge to do what we can do today." From the authors' perspective, what they call the Long Boom is half in the past and half in the future. "We refer to the Long Boom in both senses throughout the book."

There are four Parts followed by an Afterword.

Part I Track the Inevitable (ie major developments in technology, economics and politics)

Part II The Politics of the Long Boom (ie how to overcome "looming political problems")

Part III The Engines of the Twenty-First Century (ie technologies which can help to preserve the environment)

Part IV Birth of a Global Civilization (ie creation of a new middle class amidst fundamental global changes)

In the forward-thinking Afterword, the authors reaffirm their faith in the almost unlimited potentialities of the Long Boom IF the human race can somehow avoid committing planetary suicide. They are emphatically NOT misty-eyed visionaries; on the contrary, they seem most comfortable when addressing harsh realities such as territorial "politics" which, if permitted, can result in the Long Whimper. Among their objectives is to provide "a starting point for an ongoing global conversation about how everyone can take advantage of the great potential of our era and create a better world." The observations shared are anchored in the real-world; the suggestions offered are practical and do-able. If for whatever reasons the human race is unwilling and/or unable to fulfill the promise of the Long Boom, who to blame? According to Pogo, "We have met the enemy and he is us." Schwartz, Leyden & Hyatt would perhaps reply, "OK but so what? There's still time. There's still hope. We have everything we need. Let's work together on a global basis. It won't be easy but we can do it. We really can."

How? This brilliant book answers that question. Better yet, it explains why.

Those whose minds and hearts are nourished by this book should also check out Natural Capitalism (Hawken, Lovins & Lovins) and Holding On to Reality (Borgmann) which address many of the same issues but from somewhat different perspectives.

The Long Boom is a primer for the 21st century. It provides in-depth overviews of critical emerging technologies and trends, familiarizing the reader with promising developments coming in the future. Furthermore, it espouses a plan of action based on optimism, globalism, and growth. And the optimism is not empty. Rather, optimism about the Long Boom is based on a series of careful arguments about emerging technologies and global cultures. In short, the Long Boom uncovers the strength of global cultures and the positive impact of future technologies. According to Schwartz and Leyden, however, the Long Boom won't just happen, but rather will depend upon our contributions. This normative scenario will require that we all join together to promote openness, globalism, and progress. If you're going to read one book before the new millenium, you should read this one. Because it really matters, and requires us to make it happen.

The Long Boom is one of those rare books that really does transform the way we look at our world. It is comprehensive though not excessively long, thoughtful without being pedantic and optimistic without a trace of Pollyanna. The authors' style is open and non-defensive: this is a pretty courageous book to write while we are still living in an era of cynicism, in which the highest personal virtue is to be skeptical. That societal attitude will no doubt eventually pass, but you shouldn't wait until it does to read this. If you think ours is a world of endless possibilities, that humanity has great potential and that you can personally make a difference, now is the time to read The Long Boom.

I'm a big Schwartz fan from "Art of The Long View". That being the case, I was disappointed to see that he didn't take his own advice in structuring the content of "The Long Boom". "The Long View" stressed developing best, worst and most likely scenariois to develop plans of actions to deal with future events. "The Long Boom" from my perspective dwells only on the best case scenario. Environmental and social issues are addressed, but the scenario is too tidy to believe. The strength of the book revolves around the explanation of ground-breaking technologies on the horizon. I think the integration of these technologies are very plausible, but remain to be seen. The book is definitely worth a read.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is full of hope and optimism, yet grounded in the reality of today's world. The authors have developed a "possible" vision of the future...not a "prediction." That, to me, means there is something beyond the horizon that is worth working towards. The content of the book also provided me a wealth of information about our world today and I feel I had a chance to get caught up on "current events." Furthermore, the authors put these events into a context that gave them new meaning.

I also liked the way the book was written. The letters written in current time and the documentary broadcast in the future looking back at the past 40 years added some very interesting perpectives.

The Long Boom should be required reading for everyone as it opens up a door to what is possible that most people don't consider in the narrow viewpoint of daily living.

By laying out a positive scenario for the future, we can see how it's possible to accomplish more on this current rising tide of prosperity. Interweaving stories from the recent past with tales of the present and the future, we see how our attitudes, aspirations and worldview have far-reaching consequences. Each person plays a role in creating a better world, and this book suggests how we can improve our own lives and contribute to the general welfare along the way.

Well, these guys pretty much had it all down. The nation-state is dead! We're all living in one big, friendly wired community! The Dow will keep rising, minus some small bumps! The gap between rich and poor will narrow! The information economy will make us all live longer!

And -- hey, that plane is flying awfully close to the World Trade Cent.. -- oh, never mind. Just put on your virtual-reality goggles, and keep on buying stocks. Everything's gonna be great.

This was a fun book to read. If you want to be optimistic about the world, read this book. The book is about the global economy growing, and how humans will benefit from such economic growth.

Many problems can can be addressed by economic growth, while some problems are created by such growth. The economic growth is created by technology and globalization, as are the problems created.

There are rules to follow to sustain the economic growth, and the book outlines ten such rules.

If you are worried about global problems like climate change,
terrorism, or poverty, read this book. You will learn that these
problems will worsen if we're not careful. You will also learn that these problems can be minimized if we change our way of thinking.

I read Peter Schwartz book on the "The Art of the Long View". I was expecting sometime like that.What he suggested was to take two of the most important variables and make four world models from them. If so what we have here is the optimistic scenario.

Most futuristic models in my experience fail as they attempt to make a long term model on previous short term results. As it was written in 2000 just after the fall of communism in Russia and the Asian meltdown and before 911, it exaggerates the melt down in Asia and ignores the military totally.

In this scenario we have only globalism and progress.

This easy-to-read, collaborative, and well-edited book reads like a mystery novel without the mystery as the plot is revealed in the introduction. The story is about the economic opportunity before the world now. Three technological waves (futurists love waves) are washing the shores of nations worldwide: the internet, biotechnical manipulation and lower-cost energy. This is however less a book about technology and more about a new politics (think, fresh mind sets) needed to renew lagging economies, save the planet, enhance the role of women, prepare for the new sciences and, thus, realize a new global civilization.

The authors' method of discovery (i.e., research) was world-touring among an impressive list of leading thinkers.

The story begins in the previous century (1980's, more or less) and ends about 2050, 30 years beyond the predicted new civilization.

The result is some kind of "blue print" for the future. The story will warm the hearts of optimists; pessimists will be less convinced.

The book comes with a fine index, rather general footnotes, an annotated bibliography and the now ubiquitious web site illustrating one of the 10 principle beliefs/behaviors the authors' promote: Stay Connected.