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 …

The just completed World Cup was an amazing event.  Along with the Olympics it is the truly global sporting event.  I would venture to say that in the 32 countries that had teams in the Cup the ratings and awareness of the games was much greater than for the Olympics.  In those countries, hundreds and thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of people came together in public places to watch their teams, cheering or moaning as one.

I realized that eight years ago, in the early months of this blog, I had written a column about the 2006 World …

The politically delayed confirmation of Chuck Hagel to become the Secretary of Defense could well be a pivot point, and an essential one, for the future of the Department.  It is time for this most important arm of the government to become more aligned with 21^st century realities.

Much of the thinking in the United States, and particularly in Washington D.C., is what I call legacy thinking.  We have powered into the 21^st century thinking thoughts from the 20^th century.  Certainly if one is over 40 much of what one thinks was shaped in the last century.  If you first developed …

Since the beginning of the Transformation Decade in 2010, I have been saying that education at all levels will undergo transformation by 2020.  The book I wrote with Jeff Cobb, “Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12”, published in early 2011, called for nothing less than transformation.  Reform is an outdated word and is now not enough to make the necessary changes in American education.

Last week I wrote a guest column for CNN.com titled “Predictions for the Next Decade of Education”.  It provoked a number of responses to my inbox and many on-line as …