Prosperity: The Coming Twenty-Year Boom and What It Means to You (Hardcover)

~ (Author), David Wessel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most predictions about the how the American economy will fair over the next 20 years are pretty bleak. The rush to globalization will force jobs to cheaper labor markets in Indonesia and China. Steel and auto workers, who once commanded top-dollar wages, will have no choice but to flip burgers at McDonald's. Gains in productivity will only benefit the rich, and only those involved in the information and technology sectors of the economy can look forward to maintaining today's standard of living--everyone else will slip over the edge. And so the predictions go on.... Authors Bob Davis and David Wessel offer a counterweight to this gloom and doom in their new book Prosperity.

Davis and Wessel, both journalists at the Wall Street Journal, contend that we are on the edge of a huge economic boom that will be fueled by three trends: high technology; the reeducation of the American work force; and globalization. They argue that gains in productivity, long promised by the computer revolution, but never delivered on, will finally kick in causing a surge of innovation and new opportunities not seen since the widespread growth and acceptance of electricity at the turn of the century. Community colleges will help to bridge the wide gap between educated and less educated workers. And finally, globalization will create new jobs and provide low-cost goods to consumers.

If you've grown weary of the future forecasted by books such as The End of Work by Jeremy Rifkin or The End of Affluence by Jeffrey Madrick, Prosperity provides a credible and well-researched reason for optimism about the next 20 years. --Harry C. Edwards

From Booklist

Davis and Wessel are award-winning journalists who report daily on economic affairs for the Wall Street Journal and who, in their travels throughout the country, see reasons to be optimistic about America's future. While others have offered statistics to show that there is a growing and dangerous disparity between the incomes of the rich and those of the poor, these two writers see trends that suggest, instead, that there will be a "broadly shared prosperity" for America's middle class. They argue that our current situation parallels the early years of the twentieth century, when slow growth and a widening inequality were followed by a "burst of innovation and prosperity." While others bemoan the disparate effects of technology, globalization, and our educational system, Davis and Wessel explain why we only now are beginning to see the positive results of these influences. They marshal examples showing the benefits we will soon reap from the reorganized workplace, the community college system, technological breakthroughs, and expanded and free foreign trade. David Rouse

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; 1 edition (March 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812928199
• ISBN-13: 978-0812928198
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,716,174 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Computers finally deliver!, July 19, 1998

By	Tom Daoust (Concord, NC) - See all my reviews

This book finally helps me understand why it has taken so long for computers to deliver real productivity gains. Every technology has its early boosters and enthusiasts and in the early 80s I was one of them. But until I read about the slow adoption of electricity I couldn't understand why computers weren't delivering their promises faster. The authors show the parallels between the adoption of electrity and the adoption of computer technology. If they are right, we are on the eve of an incredible productivity explosion. Sorry, but it took 30 years. Now watch out. I'd love to hear from others who are also excited about the ideas in this book. Write me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The authors' insights on prosperity and education, February 10, 1999

By A Customer

Davis and Wessel articulate ideas that have appeared elsewhere such as the necessity of flatter organizations and team decision-making. What makes their book insightful is the comparison between electricity and computers. They note that it took decades before the economic impact of electricity took hold and predict that it will take a few more years for computers to increase productivity exponentially. They make a strong case for the efficacy of community colleges. The authors rightly contend that these colleges are more important to our nation than Harvard. Community colleges will raise the skill levels of American workers just as high schools did at the turn of the century. Education is the key to increased productivity and will also narrow the wage gaps that exist in our society

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow did this guy blow it!, May 6, 2004

By	Reid M (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prosperity: The Coming Twenty-Year Boom and What It Means to You (Paperback)

Bob Davis wrote this book in 1999, right before the recession. Now in 2004 his book seems to predict the opposite of what has happened. Perhaps Bob didn't forsee a Bush presidency, oh well.