David Kanigan curated this quote from Hugh MacLeod about the current economy…
“Hardly a morning goes by these days without me hearing some story…about American economic woe…
The Great Convergence is upon us, and our friend, the Internet is accelerating the process…
The good news is, if you have a talent, the world wants it, and it has never been so easy to show your talent to the world…
The bad news is, especially for us fat & lazy Americans, is that the great, century-long era of Prosperity-on-Autopilot is over…
The world still wants serious talent. And it still wants people doing the grunt work: pushing mops, digging ditches, waiting tables, answering phones, flipping burgers etc…
Learn how to work hard, work long hours. Find something you love, and then excel at it. Above all else, learn how to create, learn how to invent. That’s your only hope, really.
Source: The Era of Prosperity-on-Auto-Pilot Is Over – Lead.Learn.Live.
It made me think about an excellent new book on the topic that just came out [I know because it was written by my client Philip Auerswald and I did the site for the launch so I guess that makes me officially biased]. The book is called The Coming Prosperity…
Ours is the most dynamic and promising era in human history. The benefits of four centuries of technological and organizational change are at last reaching a previously excluded global majority. This transformation will create large-scale opportunities in richer countries like the United States just as it has in poorer countries now in the ascent.
In The Coming Prosperity, Philip E. Auerswald argues that it is time to overcome the outdated narratives of fear that dominate public discourse and to grasp the powerful momentum of progress. Acknowledging the gravity of today’s greatest global challenges–like climate change, water scarcity, and rapid urbanization–Auerswald emphasizes that the choices we make today will determine the extent and reach of the coming prosperity.
To make the most of this epochal transition, he writes, the key is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs introduce new products and services, expand the range of global knowledge networks, and, most importantly, challenge established business interests, maintaining the vitality of mature capitalist economies and enhancing the viability of emerging ones. Auerswald frames narratives of inspiring entrepreneurs within the sweep of human history. The book’s deft analysis of economic trends is enlivened by stories of entrepreneurs making an outsize difference in their communities and the world–people like Karim Khoja, who led the creation of the first mobile phone company in Afghanistan; Leila Janah, who is bringing digital-age opportunity to talented people trapped in refugee camps; and Victoria Hale, whose non-profit pharmaceutical company turned an orphan drug into a cure for black fever.
Engagingly written and bracingly realistic about the prospects of our historical moment, The Coming Prosperity disarms the current narratives of fear and brings to light the vast new opportunities in the expanding global economy.
Great things are happening all around the globe but MacLeod is right – Americans may actually have to work for it and Auerswald may be showing us the way…
Related articles
- The Coming Prosperity (e1evation.com)
- And the Winner of the Great Global Growth Race is… Equatorial Guinea! (forbes.com)
- How to Bring Back American Prosperity (usnews.com)
- *The Coming Prosperity* (marginalrevolution.com)
Bright, shiny objects! 
What do you think?