Book says to get ready for the next boom (really!)

Posted by Mark Brousseau

A bumper sticker popular in West Texas during the oil bust of the early 1980s went something like this, “Please God, just give me one more boom—I promise not to blow it this time.”

Today, millions of people around the world may be having similar thoughts.

In his book to be published in November, Jack W. Plunkett, a widely followed analyst of global trends, writes that massive changes in America and around the world will bring on a sustained period of economic growth. In The Next Boom, he argues that we are on the verge of developments that will boost job creation, investment and international trade over what he calls the “near future,” from 2013-2025.

“The next boom is already rolling down the tracks in the emerging world,” Plunkett says. “America will get on board shortly.”

The book is subtitled, “What you absolutely, positively have to know between now and 2025,” because Plunkett believes that managers, investors, entrepreneurs and leaders need to understand the changes that will soon occur in order to perform effectively. He presents a panorama of developments in areas including energy, healthcare, education, demographics, global trade, technologies and the rapidly-growing global middle class—showing how trends in America and around the world have tremendous synergy that will lead to a surge in business.

Plunkett, who describes himself as a “pragmatic optimist,” explains that “the coming boom will be supported by three building blocks. First, consumers in America are building savings and becoming financially prudent, while population growth is expanding markets for businesses. Next, global trade is about to enter an evolved, vastly higher level while the middle classes in emerging nations are soaring. Third, advanced technologies will boost the global economy in an unprecedented manner that will make the last technology boom seem tame.”

What do you think?