by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. “There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. A shorter version of this article appeared in Teach magazine in the Spring of 2012. Sometime in mid-1992, I was approached by someone who had read a column I’d written about the future of education for the Globe & Mail. His name was Wili Liberman, and he wanted me to […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. In my last blog, “A Specter Is Haunting Europe”, I described the running crisis that threatens Europe’s financial markets and economy with potentially severe knock-on effects for the global markets and global economy. I got a very swift reaction from a number of readers: You say this global crisis is […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The spectre of Sir Thomas Gresham is stalking Europe, like a shambling, unstoppable zombie, straining to eat the heart out of its financial system and economy. And if Europe falls, the global markets and global economy won’t be far behind. Gresham (1519-1579) is generally credited with formulating Gresham’s Law, which […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. In our last blog (which you can see here), I hosted a guest blogger, Chris Ritchie, who wrote about how the job market is a major problem for people in their twenties and early thirties (whom I’ll call “Echoes”), and got a spirited response from a number of readers. What […] Read more

by Christopher W. Ritchie I don’t often give my blog over to guests, but this essay gave me pause. I commissioned Chris Ritchie to research certain aspects of social developments, and what you’re about to read was part of his report. I asked him if I could publish this, and this is the result. Chris […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. We grew up with robots. There was Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons, the “I, Robot” science fiction series from Isaac Asimov (which later became a movie with Will Smith), the model B9 robot from the “Lost in Space” television series, R2D2 and C3PO from the Star Wars space operas, […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. We are standing at the edge of the next revolution, one that will shake the foundations of the corporate world. It will both create and destroy jobs, and build and decimate organizations, and at speeds that will catch people – and organizations – by surprise. The winners will be those […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The following article was part of a presentation made to the California Farm Bureau Federation in December of 2011. The looming shortage of freshwater is not unique to farmers here – it’s rapidly going global. Many farmers will choose to see the problems ahead with water as a crisis, but […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The year ahead is going to be a tumultuous one, challenging in political, economic, and financial terms. Despite this, there are opportunities for those prepared to take advantage of them, because uncertain times mean that market share is up for grabs. And no, it’s not a coincidence that there are […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The Occupy movement is most significant not for what the protestors say, but rather that the movement is happening at all. It demonstrates significant unrest, and the greatest dissatisfaction with the capitalist system that we’ve witnessed since the fall of the Soviet Union. But where is it headed? That’s a […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The Apple iPhone 4S announced last week received generally tepid reviews. The tech press was expecting more, mostly in the external form factor of the iPhone, and was disappointed when the “new” iPhone looked the same as the old. I completely disagree with the lack of enthusiasm, and think that […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. Libraries are cutting edge. Schools are not. Librarians move with the changes in technology. Teachers do not. And we need to ask ourselves why that is, because we spend a lot more on our schools than on our libraries. Now let me make the obvious amendments: Not every library and […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. There are innovations in the field of innovation itself, as well as older principles of innovation that have been around so long that many people either aren’t aware of them, or ignore them despite their value. I thought it was about time to explore both trends. The particularly interesting thing […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The stock markets have fallen out of bed since President Obama signed the ludicrous debt ceiling deal. I don’t wonder about that; what I wonder is why they took so long. I was expecting stocks to fall two weeks earlier than they did. But now the question becomes: What happens […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. My last blog dealt with the debt ceiling debate within the U.S. Congress – if “debate” is the word for what looks like a combination of Mexican stand-off and Russian roulette. I’d like to update my comments with some things to watch: 1) August 2nd is probably not the deadline. I […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. The world as we know it may very well end on August 2nd. This won’t be the end of the world in a metaphysical or spiritual sense, but rather in a financial and economic one because of the incredible, almost unbelievable stupidity of the extreme members of the Republican Party. […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, c.f.a. There’s an unusual amount of dissension among economists and other commentators about whether we’re heading towards higher inflation or devastating deflation, and whether the economy will continue to grow, or slip into a double-dip recession. This is happening because we are in uncharted waters, with few, if any, precedents to […] Read more

by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. What follows is another excerpt from the manuscript of a book I’m currently working on. I expect it to come out in late Spring or early Summer. ———   “But with Benedict … he’ll kill you, and then he’ll go to work on you!” – Character Reuben Tishkoff in the […] Read more