[Note:  This column was recently published in my Shift Age Newsletter. Please click here to sign up for a free subscription.]

In the past few months – and particularly the past few weeks – I’ve been asked everyday about what I think the near-term economic future will be. People even ask me about the stock market: Should they buy real estate? What do I think the price of gold might be? Because I’m a futurist who has been correct about some big things, they look to me for investment advice in these incredibly uncertain times.

I am not an …

I have stated the above words several hundred times to audiences around the world since my speaking career as a futurist started to take off in 2007. The context of the statement is my general “The Shift Age” presentation, when I say that we have entered the global stage of human evolution.

Up through the Industrial Age, the highest form of human construct was the nation-state.  National economies, national identities and national cultures shaped thinking. During the Information Age, growing connectivity, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the true beginning of the global economy moved everything to a more global …