Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know

Author: Ronald Bailey
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1948647745
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
“I would say that learning this material ... has lifted some of the existential weight from me. Things aren’t as bad as they are trumpeted to be. In fact, they’re quite a bit better, and they’re getting better, and so we’re doing a better job than we thought. There’s more to us than we thought. We’re adopting our responsibilities as stewards of the planet rapidly. We are moving towards improving everyone’s life." —Jordan B. Peterson, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life Think the world is getting worse? If so, you’re wrong. The world is, for the most part, actually getting better. But 58 percent of people in 17 countries who were surveyed in 2016 thought that the world was either getting worse or staying the same. Americans were even more glum: 65 percent thought the world was getting worse and only 6 percent thought it was getting better. The uncontroversial data on major global trends in this book will persuade you that this dark view of the state of humanity and the natural world is, in large part, badly mistaken. World population will peak at 8–9 billion before the end of this century, as the global fertility rate continues its fall from 6 children per woman in 1960 to the current rate of 2.4. The global absolute poverty rate has fallen from 42 percent in 1981 to 8.6 percent today. Satellite data show that forest area has been expanding since 1982. Natural resources are becoming ever cheaper and more abundant. Since 1900, the average life expectancy has more than doubled, reaching more than 72 years globally. Of course, major concerns such as climate change, marine plastic pollution, and declining wildlife populations are still with us, but many of these problems are already being ameliorated as a result of the favorable economic, social, and technological trends that are documented in this book. You can’t fix what is wrong in the world if you don’t know what’s actually happening. Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know will provide busy people with quick-to-read, easily understandable, and entertaining access to surprising facts that they need to know about how the world is really faring.

Global Trends 2040

Author: National Intelligence Council
Publisher: Cosimo Reports
ISBN: 9781646794973
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Book Description
"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

The Green Edit: Travel

Author: Juliet Kinsman
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 147358311X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 133

Book Description
Explore the world and satisfy your wanderlust in the most eco-friendly way. How can we lessen our impact on the world without giving up the things we love? This series of easy-to-follow guides show that positive change is possible without radical changes to your everyday life. Sustainable tourism doesn’t have to mean vowing to never take another flight or spending holidays camping in your back garden. This short expert guide from eco-travel journalist Juliet Kinsman, takes you through every step of planning your trip, from booking to boarding, and arms you with everything you need to know for a lower-impact getaway. Whether it's explaining how to know which plane to take (yes, some are greener than others) or how to avoid the mini toiletries trap; this book shows that you can save the planet and still live life to the full.

Superabundance

Author: Marian L. Tupy
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1952223407
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 575

Book Description
Generations of people have been taught that population growth makes resources scarcer. In 2021, for example, one widely publicized report argued that “The world's rapidly growing population is consuming the planet's natural resources at an alarming rate . . . the world currently needs 1.6 Earths to satisfy the demand for natural resources ... [a figure that] could rise to 2 planets by 2030.” But is that true? After analyzing the prices of hundreds of commodities, goods, and services spanning two centuries, Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley found that resources became more abundant as the population grew. That was especially true when they looked at “time prices,” which represent the length of time that people must work to buy something. To their surprise, the authors also found that resource abundance increased faster than the population―a relationship that they call superabundance. On average, every additional human being created more value than he or she consumed. This relationship between population growth and abundance is deeply counterintuitive, yet it is true. Why? More people produce more ideas, which lead to more inventions. People then test those inventions in the marketplace to separate the useful from the useless. At the end of that process of discovery, people are left with innovations that overcome shortages, spur economic growth, and raise standards of living. But large populations are not enough to sustain superabundance―just think of the poverty in China and India before their respective economic reforms. To innovate, people must be allowed to think, speak, publish, associate, and disagree. They must be allowed to save, invest, trade, and profit. In a word, they must be free.

Towards an Imperfect Union

Author: Dalibor Rohac
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442270659
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203

Book Description
In today’s Europe, deep cracks are showing in the system of political cooperation that was designed to prevent the geopolitical catastrophes that ravaged the continent in the first half of the twentieth century. Europeans are haunted, once again, by the specters of nationalism, fascism, and economic protectionism. Instead of sounding the alarm, many conservatives have become cheerleaders for the demise of the European Union (EU). This compelling book represents the first systematic attempt to justify the European project from a free-market, conservative viewpoint. Although many of their criticisms are justified, Dalibor Rohac contends that Euroskeptics are playing a dangerous game. Their rejection of European integration places them in the unsavory company of nationalists, left-wing radicals, and Putin apologists. Their defense of the nation-state against Brussels, furthermore, is ahistorical. He convincingly shows that the flourishing of democracy and free markets in Europe has gone hand in hand with the integration project. Europe’s pre-EU past, in contrast, was marked by a series of geopolitical calamities. When British voters make their decision in June, they should remember that while Brexit would not be a political or economic disaster for the United Kingdom, it would not solve any of the problems that the “Leavers” associate with EU membership. Worse yet, its departure from the European Union would strengthen the centrifugal forces that are already undermining Europe's ability to solve the multitude of political, economic, and security challenges plaguing the continent today. Instead of advocating for the end of the EU, Rohac argues that conservatives must come to the rescue of the integration project by helping to reduce the EU’s democratic deficit and turning it into an engine of economic dynamism and prosperity. For the author’s video on Brexit, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFReUnO05Fo

A Different Kind of Happy

Author: Rachaele Hambleton
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473571979
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Book Description
'A powerful story of family, hope, growth and second chances' Anna Mathur Happiness comes in all shapes and sizes. Jo said goodbye to peace and quiet when she got pregnant at 19, but now she has a chance to hit refresh. A partner she loves, five amazing kids and a house by the sea. Jo must find a way to make the most of her second chance at happiness. She's surrounded by mums who seem to have it all together, but when normal is not an option, surprises can lead to a different kind of happy.

Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know

Author: Ronald Bailey
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781948647731
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
You can't fix what is wrong in the world, if you don't know what's actually happening. Ten Global Trends will provide busy people with speedy, easily understandable, and entertaining access to surprising facts that they need to know about how the world is really faring.

Know It All Fashion

Author: Rebecca Arnold
Publisher: Wellfleet Press
ISBN: 0760361207
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 163

Book Description
Most of us have some feeling for fashion and have a vague idea of what’s in and what’s out. Less familiar to most, however, is the way fashion works as a global business. Know-It-All Fashion looks beyond the surface of this billion-dollar industry. Each entry is summarized in under a minute–using nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and one picture. Leading fashion experts provide an engrossing crash course in how the style world works today, alongside an engaging look at the founding fathers (and mothers) of fashion who set it up that way. Every aspect of the modern fashion industry is explored, from haute couture to high street, from catwalk to street style, and from glossy magazine to online blog. Some of the recurring themes behind fashion design are also explored, such as the influence of art, music and sport. Know-It-All Fashion includes everything you need to get style savvy. The Know It All series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about the subjects you really feel you should understand but have never gotten around to studying. Each book selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in under a minute. Other titles in this series include: Know It All Anthropology, Know It All Chemistry, Know It All Classical Music, Know It All Energy, Know It All Great Inventions, Know It All Jazz, Know It All Medicine, Know It All Shakespeare, Know It All Whiskey, Know It All Wine, Space In 30 Seconds, Sports in 30 Seconds.

First Things First

Author: Paul Streeten
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0195203690
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Book Description
The authors defend the basic needs' approach to economic development which has been the subject of controversy and suspicion among many groups.

Bringing Home the Birkin

Author: Michael Tonello
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061473332
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 277

Book Description
An insider's hilarious, whirlwind account of his years spent globe-trotting in search of the holy grail of handbags: the Birkin For more than twenty years, the Hermès Birkin bag has been the iconic symbol of fashion, luxury, and wealth. Though the bag is often seen dangling from the arms of celebrities, there is a fabled waiting list of more than two years to buy one from Hermès, and the average fashionista has a better chance of climbing Mount Everest in Prada pumps than of possessing one of these coveted carryalls. Unless, of course, she happens to know Michael Tonello . . . Michael's newfound career started with an impulsive move to Barcelona, a vanished job assignment, no work visa, and an Hermès scarf sold on eBay to generate some quick cash. But soon the resourceful Michael discovered the truth about the waiting list and figured out the secret to getting Hermès to part with one of these precious bags. Millions of dollars worth of Birkins later, Michael had become one of eBay's most successful entrepreneurs—and a Robin Hood to thousands of desperate rich women. With down-to-earth wit, Michael chronicles the unusual ventures that took him to nearly every continent, from eBay to Paris auction house and into the lives of celebrities and poseurs. Flirting with danger, Michael recounts the heady rush of hand delivering his first big score to famed songwriter Carole Bayer Sager in Paris; how he had to hire thugs to rescue a bag that one of his "shoppers" held for ransom; and the story of the Oscar-worthy performances that allowed him to snag "reserved" bags from other, less dogged Birkin seekers. Whether he's relating his wining and dining, buying and selling, dodging and weaving, laughing and crying, or schmoozing and stammering, Michael is a master raconteur who weaves together tales of hunting Birkins in the world's most posh locales, memories of meals that would make any gastronome salivate, anecdotes of obsessed collectors with insatiable desires, and sweetly intimate stories about his family, friends, and finding true love. The result is a memoir that is distinctive, fun, page-turning, and as addictive as its namesake.