We have entered one of the most transformative, disruptive times in the history of brands and marketing. The ever-accelerating rate of change in almost every aspect of communications, technology, media, social change and connectivity has left brand marketers struggling just to stay current.

It is this reality that led me to collaborate with brand and market research guru Owen Shapiro to write “Brand Marketing: The Future of Brands and Marketing” which was published in September.

I have had a several year relationship with Owen and his firm Shapiro [formerly Leo J. Shapiro & Associates] since my first book “The Shift Age” came …

We are entering a new stage of the rapidly evolving global economy. The first stage has lasted some 25 years, beginning in the very late 1980s. As we move from 2014 into 2015 and 2016 there will be fundamental shifts in both the global economy and almost equally importantly, how we perceive it. By 2017, this view of the second stage of the global economy having begun will largely be held by economists, business, media and, hopefully governments.

In Part One and Part Two I looked at how the global economy started, grew and evolved. It is …

We are entering the second great stage of the global economy. The last column here looked back at the foundations of the global economy up to and through the reorganizational recession of 2007-2011. We now look at what has happened in the years since and begin the look into what the next stage might look like.

Out of Date Metrics

The economic metrics from the last century, to some degree, no longer accurately measure global economic reality. I remember speaking across the United States and around the world in 2010 and 2011, the years after the economic thought leaders in …

As a futurist I look at the world of economics through different filters than do economists. I am certainly not trained as an economist nor as a financial advisor. I write this disclaimer as I am frequently asked about “the economy” and long term investments by people wanting to better invest their money.

Dividing economics into the classic Macro and Micro Economics, my speaking and writing on the subject might fall into the category of Ultra Macro Economics. I view the global economy through the lens of ages, trends and technologies. Large scale, long term patterns and dynamics that will largely …