Outrageous Fortunes: The Twelve Surprising Trends That Will Reshape The Global Economy

A Harvard-trained economist’s startling predictions reveal critical challenges in the decades ahead, helping individuals, businesses, and governments to make smarter decisions.

As individuals, companies, and countries struggle to recover from the economic crisis, many are narrowly focused on forecasts for the next week, month or quarter. Yet they should be asking what the global economy will look like in the years to come: where will the long-term risks and opportunities arise? These are the questions that Daniel Altman confronts in his provocative and indispensable new book.

The fate of the global economy, Altman argues, will be determined by deeper factors than those that move markets from moment to moment. His incisive analysis brings together hidden trends, societal pressures and policy endgames to make twelve surprising but logical predictions about the years ahead. And his forecasts for the future raise a pressing question for today: with so many challenges awaiting us, are our political and economic institutions up to the task?

Outrageous Fortunes tells which industries will grow, which economies will crumble, which investments will pay off, and where the next big crisis may occur. Altman’s carefully reasoned text is an essential guide for the road ahead.

“Daniel Altman has something to tell you: the world may not turn out the way Thomas Friedman expects. Outrageous Fortunes is provocative, fast-moving, authoritative and imaginative.”—Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist

“His analysis is thoughtful and compelling and should be required reading for those interested in creating a better world for our offspring.”—Hal R. Varian, chief economist at Google

“If the past two years have taught us anything, it is the importance of counter-intuitive thinking. Anyone who wants to get smart on globalization’s fate must read this book.”—Parag Khanna, The Second World and How to Run the World