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Product Description The author of Megatrends looks at the new global environment and the awesome mix of opportunities and challenges it presents to nations, businesses, and individuals. 200,000 first printing. Tour. From Publishers Weekly Naisbitt's economic and technological paradigm as expounded in this impressive study, will no doubt spark debates on editorial pages and TV talk shows. Naisbitt ( Megatrends ) argues that the shift from the paramount influence of governments, politicians and conglomerates to entrepreneurial economies propels us toward a global economy. "The more the economies of the world integrate, the less important the economies of countries," and, he continues, "the more important are the economic contributions of individuals and individual companies." Unimpressed by the Common Market ("if you're looking to invest in a solid-growth area . . . forget Europe"), claiming that while economic alliances are likely, "the world's trends point overwhelmingly toward political independence and self rule." Naisbitt looks to the free market economies of Latin America and Asia (led by China) to provide the boom for the coming century. His analysis of ethical issues, tribalism and technology are superb. Naisbitt has created a masterful book of formidable theories. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Naisbitt is the man who made trend watching trendy. His 1982 Megatrends was a mega-best-seller and he went on to spin off works like Megatrends 2000 and, with his wife, Patricia Aburdene, Megatrends for Women. Often dismissed by critics for the very reasons that make them popular, his books offer an optimistic, New Age, feel-good view of the future and provide confirmation for what people already intuit. Naisbitt and his wife remain popular on the corporate seminar circuit while charging as much as $20,000 for an hourlong presentation. In this latest work, he analyzes a single, already obvious trend--so-called globalization. Naisbitt looks at the many contradictions of the global economy and a global culture, summing up the major paradox: "The bigger the world economy, the more powerful its smallest players." Some of the consequences of this paradox suggested and analyzed by Naisbitt include an end to politics, an increase in entrepreneurialism (even in the largest companies), a boom for the travel industry, and new areas for economic opportunity in Asia and Latin America. As with his other works, his ideas are supported mostly by citations from the popular press. Naisbitt may oversimplify, but he knows how to attract an audience. David Rouse From Kirkus Reviews Naisbitt (Megatrends 2000, etc.) here focuses on an apparent incongruity, if not contradiction, in the Global Village's premillennial, post-cold war order. He argues, in brief, that the bigger the world economy becomes, the more powerful will be its smallest players (who, of course, are entrepreneurs or the corporate equivalents thereof). Before examining (in no great depth) the implications of his basic thesis, the author assesses the factors he believes have combined to produce a so-called global paradox. He cites, for instance, the USSR's collapse (which has helped create dozens of new nation-states), ongoing advances in the state of the telecommunications and computer arts, the decentralized management of multinational enterprises, improvements in transportation technology, and the flowering of democratic capitalism in hitherto socialist societies. In Naisbitt's view, individual countries are moving toward greater political independence while seeking to establish economic alliance. Among other consequences, he argues, this trend puts paid to any hope of genuine union (monetary or otherwise) in Western Europe and suggests that the US is on track with the less restrictive trade-based confederation NAFTA would represent. In the meantime, says Naisbitt, the working world is achieving consensus on business conduct, environmental,