Five forces that will shape the future
US wealth gap
Since 2007 the bottom 50% has had zero or negative wealth (i.e., debt).
1980
- Top 10% of people: 65% of wealth
- Middle 40% of people: 34% of wealth
- Bottom 50% of people: .01% of wealth
2014
- Top 10% of people: 73% of wealth
- Middle 40% of people: 27% of wealth
Source: World Inequality Database (2018)
Data explosion
We’re going to need better storage, processing, and privacy.
Source: IDC Research, The Digitization of the World. From Edge to Core. (2018)
Rise in average global temperatures
As surface temperatures increase, so will sea levels, extreme storms, and habitat disruption.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance (2020)
Language extinction
From 1950 to 2010, 230 languages went extinct. Today, a third of the world’s languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers left.
Source: UNESCO World Language Atlas (2010); Ethnologue: Languages of the World (2019)
An older population
Today, 9% of the global population is over 65. That’s going to grow in the next decades, redefining work, health care, and our economy.
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019).
Deep Dive
Humans and technology
Money is about to enter a new era of competition
Digital technology is poised to change our relationship with money and, for some countries, the ability to manage their economies.
Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users
The startup promises a fairly-distributed, cryptocurrency-based universal basic income. So far all it's done is build a biometric database from the bodies of the poor.
House-flipping algorithms are coming to your neighborhood
Despite millions of dollars in losses, iBuying’s failure doesn’t signal the end of tech-led disruption, just a fumbled beginning.
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