(*Some assembly required.) by futurist Richard Worzel, C.F.A. I woke up this morning with the realization that I could build a transporter, just like the ones they used (will use?) in Star Trek in the years following 2200. Well, almost like. Let’s put it this way: you could put something in the transporter at one […] Read more
Richard’s Futuresearch Blog Articles
Is America Still the Greatest Country in the World?
October 12, 2012by 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
The Wonder and the Horror of Education’s Future
September 9, 2012by 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
Stalking the Specter
June 25, 2012by 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
A Spectre is Haunting Europe
June 15, 2012by 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
The Future of Work: How the 1% and the 99% Become Aristocrats & Peons
May 15, 2012by 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
“The Boomers have occupied our future, and aren’t leaving…”
April 25, 2012by 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
Six Things to Know About the Robots in Your Future
March 29, 2012by 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
The Innovation Revolution
March 6, 2012by 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
Freshwater Crisis, Farming Opportunity
February 2, 2012by 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
