Megachange: The World in 2050 (The Economist) [Hardcover]

D. Franklin (Author), John Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2012 | ISBN-10: 9781118180440 | ISBN-13: 978-1118180440 | Edition: 1

A look at the fundamental trends that are changing the world, from the experts at The Economist

"Megatrends" are great forces in societal development that have profound impacts on states, markets, and civil society in the now and for the years to come. They can effectively be employed as a starting point for analyzing our world. Megachange: The World in 2050 looks at these sweeping, fundamental trends that are changing the world faster than at any time in human history.

Including chapters on approximately twenty of these "megatrends," each elegantly outlined by contributors from The Economist, and rich in supporting facts and graphics, the book is a compelling read as well as a valuable research and reference tool.

• Groups the "megatrends" that are shaping our world into several categories: People, Life and Death, Economy and Business, and Knowledge
• Each trend is covered in a concise but detailed chapter written by an expert from The Economist
• Edited by Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist

Packed with important information about the forces that shape our world, Megachange is a fascinating new look to the future from the experts at The Economist.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Megachange looks at the forces that have been driving change and where they are headed over the following decades. Its conclusions about how the world will look in 2050 are often surprising, not least in their optimism. Following an introduction, the book is divided into four parts containing 20 chapters that cover everything from health to wealth and religion to outer space.

People and relationships

• Not quite destiny

• The health of nations

• Women's world

• Friends indeed

• Cultural revolutions

Heaven and earth

• Believe it or not

• Feeling the heat

• The future of war: the weak become strong

• Freedom's ragged march

• Taming Leviathan: the state of the state

Economy and business

• The age of emerging markets

• Globalisation, growth and the Asian century

• The great levelling

• Schumpeter Inc.

• Market momentum

Knowledge and progress

• What (and where) next for science

• Ad astra

• The web of knowledge

• Distance is dead. Long live location

• Of predictions and progress: more for less

The contributors

Barbara Beck is The Economist's special-reports editor.

Geoffrey Carr is The Economist's science and technology editor.

Philip Coggan is the Buttonwood columnist and capital-markets editor of The Economist. He is the author of The Economist Guide to Hedge Funds and, most recently, Paper Promises: Money, Debt and the New World Order.

Simon Cox is The Economist's Asia economics editor.

Tim Cross is a science correspondent at The Economist.

Kenneth Cukier is The Economist's data editor.

Martin Giles is The Economist's US technology correspondent.

Anthony Gottlieb is a New York-based writer. A former executive editor of The Economist, he is the author of The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance.

Robert Lane Greene is The Economist's professional-services correspondent. He also edits "Johnson", The Economist's blog on language, and is the author of You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity.

Charlotte Howard is The Economist's health-care correspondent.

Laza Kekic is director of the Economist Intelligence Unit's Country Forecasting Service.

Edward Lucas edits The Economist's international section. His most recent book is Deception, on East-West espionage.

Zanny Minton Beddoes is The Economist's economics editor.

Oliver Morton is The Economist's briefings editor and was previously energy and environment editor. His most recent book is Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet.

John Parker is The Economist's globalisation editor.

Matt Ridley is a former science and technology editor, Washington bureau chief and United States editor of The Economist. He is the author of several books, including, most recently, The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves.

Ludwig Siegele is The Economist's online business editor. He was previously technology editor.

Matthew Symonds is The Economist's defence and security editor.

Paul Wallace is The Economist's European economics editor. He is the author of Agequake: Riding the Demographic Rollercoaster Shaking Business, Finance and Our World.

Adrian Wooldridge is The Economist's management editor and Schumpeter columnist. He is co-author of several books and, most recently, the author of Masters of Management: How the Business Gurus and Their Ideas Have Changed the World – for Better and for Worse.

From the Back Cover

Navigating the future can be tricky . . .

The scale of change happening around us can be bewildering, and scary. This book offers clarity, and hope. There is every chance that the world in 2050 will be richer, healthier, more connected, more sustainable, more innovative, better educated, and have less inequality between rich and poor and between men and women.

Enormous challenges lie ahead, from managing climate change to feeding 9 billion people by 2050 and coping with a multitude of new security threats. In its 20 chapters that look at everything from health to wealth and religion to outer space, Megachange confronts these issues in its exploration of the fundamental trends that are shaping the world.

Brimming with (often counter-intuitive) ideas and facts, Megachange provides fascinating insights into what the coming decades will bring.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 27, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781118180440
• ISBN-13: 978-1118180440
• ASIN: 1118180445
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very factual and less than imaginative; shallow analysis March 25, 2012

By Jaewoo Kim TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As an avid reader, I thought many chapters of this book stated facts, ideas, and deductions that have been told and maybe even retold in other publications and best sellers. To me this book was quite redundant.

The book has 20 chapters and each chapter is written by a different writer associated with the Economist magazine.

For many chapters, the title was more noteworthy than the content. For example, in a chapter titled "The exponential future", the author basically restates the title. The future technology will grow exponentially and it will have profound (only couple of vague examples given) impact on the future. In another chapter lableled "The Asian century", the author states that China's rising population and economy will make a substantial impact on the global economy and the Asian economy as a whole. Oh really? So where is the deeper analysis and imagination?

If you have never read a book about the future trends (probably majority), then the contents in this book will be very noteworthy. I meet way too many Americans who are still stuck with "America is #1" mentality when America is quickly losing its edge in practically everything. For example, as this book states, did you know that America's life expectancy is not even top 30 in the world? The book also highlights that America's wealth doesn't coincide with its quality of life, which is low by OECD standards. Yes, Americans live way better than countries like North Korea, but its quality of life pales in comparison to many wealthier nations. The future doesn't look that much brighter either. It hurts me that America is losing its competitive and quality-of-life edge and it is frustrating to see how little of this is known by the general American public.

I recommend this book to the general population. I recommend it far less to those who are already familiar with much of the problems and advancements facing America and the world today how they might impact the future.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The storms of creative destruction are blowing us to a better place May 10, 2012

By Ron Immink

Format:Hardcover

This is a quote directly from "Megachange, the world in 2050". Another future babble book in the same vain as "Everything we know is wrong", "Future Files", "Physics of the future", "Future minds" and "Flash foresight".

The book covers

Population (Demography is destiny, 9 billion by 2050, time bomb in ageing population, water, political violence, food, carbon)
Health '(old age, innovation, gnome sequencing)
Women' (will equalize, with choice comes pressure)
Social media' (Facebook, gaming, politics, mobile, embedded into products)
Culture '(art, local, importance of language)
Religion '(10,000 religions, unbelief biggest, fun)
Global warming' (Unrealistic rhetoric of action, Antarctica, technology)
War' (China, technology, robots, nuclear)
Freedom '(Berlesconifaction, complacency, fragmentation)
The state '(f***ed, not making hard decisions)
Emerging markets '(not for long, BRICKs, education and prosperity, services)
Globalisation (in trade, not in movement of people)
Rich and poor' (narrowing between countries, not between people)
Creative destruction (Schumpeter as the new economic theory, innovation, entrepreneurship, frugal innovation)'
Market momentum (volatility of stock market)
Science' (Everything will be biology, China not sited in academia, mindset)
Space '(Aliens and space travel)
The internet (Memex, information overload, sensor dust, 13 billion devices, quickening adoption rates, DNA computers, 2045 singularity event)
Distance (location, Hybrid networks)
Future babble (the future is bright, invisibility of good news)

Recurring themes

The recurring themes are China (mixed story there), technology, biology as the new black (nano is sooo pase), the impact of population growth on the planet and its resources and dependent on where you are coming from, a sense of opportunity and optimism or a sense of impending doom.

Schumpeter

I am firmly on the optimistic side and my favourite chapter is "Schumpeter Inc", which talks about "unleashing flocks of black swans", radical reduction in the life span of businesses, turbulence, SUPER high speed broadband (100 times faster), professional guilds, frugal innovation (houses for $ 300), tidal waves of change, the emerging economies as the cauldron of innovation, embedded sensors, complicated careers, managing life as an opportunity, etc., etc. Flux, chaos, opportunity!

Tidal waves of change

That chapter speaks my language and as I have written many, many times before, as a business you ignore the "tidal wave of change" at your peril. But to go back to the start of this blog; "The storms of creative destruction are blowing us to a better place". How cool is that!? Schumpeter as the new economic theory to future growth and prosperity for the world, but hopefully also for your business.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, clearly written, systematic guide to the near future August 28, 2012

By Rolf Dobelli HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

This anthology's essays forecast future developments in areas from social media to religion. Daniel Franklin, executive editor and business affairs editor of The Economist, and John Andrews, a writer for the magazine for 30 years, compiled and edited this volume. Since all 20 writers contribute to The Economist, they share a lucid style and a generally aligned conceptual framework. No one can promise accurate predictions, but these reporters share deeply informed insights about forces that will affect the world by 2050. The result is a useful, intriguing mosaic of the near future. The writers clearly explain complex concepts as their shared references let one essay build synergistically on the next. Readers who already know the contents of one essay will turn the page to remark on how startling the next one is. getAbstract recommends this collection to futurists, long-term planners, and readers interested in social analysis and forecasting.