Booklist

Bold New World: The Essential Road Map to the Twenty-First Century. (book reviews)

Feb 15, 1996 v92 n12 p968(1)

Jennifer Henderson

COPYRIGHT 1996 American Library Association

What Future Shock was for the 1970s and Megatrends for the 1980s, Bold New World aims to be for the late 1990s and beyond. Knoke, an economist and international investment banker, proposes that we are entering "the Age of Everything-Everywhere," wherein changes in communications and transportation will erase the difference between near and far. In this "Placeless Society," nation-states may grow obsolete, and new ways will be devised for dealing with capital, labor, raw materials, and other resources, as well as social, political, and economic institutions. Companies such as Levi Strauss and McDonald's are already positioned globally, though well adapted to local tastes. Each chapter starts with futuristic scenarios that reflect how specific changes will affect such everyday world citizens as graphic designers, sales reps, automobile customers, students, domestic workers, CEOs, politicians, and terrorists. Virtual shopping means that everything will be in your size and delivered to your home without the bother of malls. Knoke as a futurist believes that by anticipating trends taking shape now, we can begin preparations for the dramatic - and often gloomy - changes soon to happen.