Future Inc in Korean finally on sale
I have no idea what the words mean, but the Korean version of Future Inc. just landed on my doorstep, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
Buy it at your local Korean language bookstore.
Is America a free market anymore?
I thought the nature of free market capitalism was for the federal government to avoid picking winners at all costs. You let the "genius of the market" work its magic, and let the chips fall where they may.
JPMorgan and Fed Move to Bail Out Bear Stearns
This just strikes me as unprecedented. We are moving into an era where the little guy is allowed to fail, but the little guy is also, through his tax burden, required to bail out the big guys, even when they make horribly stupid mistakes on a global level.
This is not an insignificant development.
Wireless neckband allows first voiceless phone call
I’m a futurist and I’m a little freaked out. This cool. And freaky. Provocative!
A future without the U.S. Dollar
You’ll admit, this is not a typical sentence you see written down. It’s like some kind of a dream.
Leaders everywhere must imagine a future without a steady dollar. Either that, or we shouldn’t borrow trillions to pay for distant wars without raising taxes. Or, you know, pay $700,000 for simple condominiums using worthless loans. You know, fiscal policy.
As the American presidential election sinks lower, ever lower, into a tired, pointless hair-pulling match about race and military bravado, I’m beginning to think that the government may not be a help in this matter.
Which is too bad, since they are the only ones who make fiscal policy.
I have a lot of friends from Peru. Maybe they’ll buy some of my dollars!
-Garland
American usage of public transit at a 50-year high
LEAST SURPRISING TREND OF 2008:
American usage of public transit at a 50 year high.
Hmm, distant, cheaply bought homes and skyrocketing gasoline prices. Who woulda thunk it?
Now answer me this – why is the DC Metro service getting even spottier, even more delayed, just as people need it most?
Advanced planning – it’s not just for breakfast!
The passing of an era: France’s last WWI vet dies
Sometimes you get real signs that a historical era is finally complete:
Lazare Ponticelli, 110 years of age, passed away in France this week. He was among the last of the "poilu," WWI veterans.
Pfizer sues New England Journal of Medicine. Now joins the record industry in “Bites the Hand that Feeds Them” competition.
Amazing.
Drug giant Pfizer tries to force medical journal to reveal anonymous sources.
Yes, Pfizer is suing the New England Journal of Medicine to get them to compromise the confidential peer-review process that keep science from becoming a big political game in which scientific fact can be swayed by money.
Pfizer has issued a subpoena demanding that the journal release the
identities and comments of its referees, who normally remain anonymous
so that they will feel free to give their honest opinions.
Wow. Talk about a short-term strategy that will forever alter your relationship with your customers.
Note to Pfizer, and all pharmaceutical companies: Doctors are your customers. Doctors are scientists who treat people. Doctors take a Hippocratic oath to treat people, whereas you have shareholders who expect money to be made from the treatment of disease. This is a fundamental tension.
Note to pharma companies: Doctors see their relationship with medical data as sacred. Often, your industry sees it as something to be manipulated for market strategy. Notice the difference in emotional content in the description of these two relationships. 
Note to pharma companies: You might consider looking at the record industry, when they started suing their clients. Their sales have been plummeting, and their customers look in variety of places for the service that records used to provide.
Note to pharma companies: Suing your customer base, even when you think you are legally justified is
the last gasp of a burned out business model.
The impact of Dungeons and Dragons on the future
Too true.
The new solar power – solar thermal
Great article yesterday from the New York Times about a little known type of solar energy that is showing some real promise: solar thermal energy.
It seems that in the desert you reflect solar energy to heat fluid into steam, and use it to turn a turbine to produce electricity. Evidently, it runs at roughly double the cost of coal, without any of the ecological impact.
Plus, looks really cool out in the desert.
South Korean government predicts that by 2018, robots will routinely be doing surgery
OK, I know that’s were likely to be out of 200,000 doctors, but is this really the answer? Apparently the 
South Korean government thinks so.
And who do you sue if the robot messes up the surgery?
Is robot malpractice cheaper than regular malpractice?
Who does follow-up care?
Does this make surgery cheaper in places like Africa and South America?
About Eric Garland
Eric is one of the world's pre-eminent thoughtleaders in forecasting and strategy. He helps leaders of business and government make critical decisions about their futures.Connect with us
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