Subtitle is "the race to reinvent energy and stop global warming."
What I like are the following bits:
1) the notion that the changes ahead will naturally and inevitably constitute "a wholesale transformation of the world economy and the way people live," and
2) that this transformation "will almost certainly create the great fortunes of the twenty-first century" (the how I get rich and finally join the "superclass" part!).
I mean it. What the hell. Who wants to transform the world and get poor as a reward?
More seriously, the larger point is that we're heading into a period of great and powerful forces: "great powers" that obliterate our old understanding of that term (more on that later).
Comments (2)
The potential losers from any major transformation always see the threat, and react. The potential winners are more often not aware, and are hard to identify to investors, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats etc.
Another same old, same old story.
Posted by Louis Heberlein | May 2, 2008 1:26 PM
Mr. Heberlein addresses what is known as economic "creative destruction" as when the railroad replaced the canal workers, then the trucking, auto and airline industries replaced most of the railroads and their related employees. The losers definately see it coming as their jobs are being eliminated.
The problem with this optimism about some clean, plentiful and cheap concentrated energy source replacing oil (before Barnett reaches retirement age) is that none exists yet, for the next two or three decades at least. If something else were coming, Boeing would not be contracting the construction of gigantic airplanes (that use jet fuel) for OPEC country clients. No mystery here. Oil, oil, oil ... is what fuels the global economy. Maybe bicycles?
Posted by VoteWithTroops | May 3, 2008 11:00 PM