As individuals, companies, and countries struggle to recover from the economic crisis, many are narrowly focused on forecasts for the next week, month, or quarter. Yet they should be asking what the global economy will look like in the years to come - where will the long-term risks and opportunities arise? These are the questions that Daniel Altman confronts in his provocative and indispensable book. The fate of the global economy, Altman argues, will be determined by deeper factors than those that move markets from moment to moment. His incisive analysis brings together hidden trends, societal pressures, and policy endgames to make twelve surprising but logical predictions about the years ahead and to pose the question of whether our political and economic institutions are up to the task.

Reviews

"Informative and accessible, penetrating and provocative, his book is a first-rate guide to global trends... Readers of "Outrageous Fortunes" are likely to conclude that they have learned some important things about a global economy that will have an ever-more profound impact on their lives."--NPR.org

"Bold... Interesting."--"The Economist"

"Amid all the handwringing on the downward trajectory of the global economy comes this cool, collected, and sensible view of forthcoming economic trends... Altman delivers more than mere analysis or foreshadowing: this is revelatory reading for even the most casual observer of economics, and an invaluable tool for reconsidering how the world makes money."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

"Interesting thought experiments."--"Kirkus Reviews"

"If the past two years have taught us anything, it is the importance of counterintuitive thinking. Daniel Altman boldly ventures into the deep drivers of global change to uncover the unintended con