Future Wealth - Hardcover

Stanley M. Davis; Christopher Meyer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1578511941 ISBN 13: 9781578511945

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 2000

Synopsis

A radical realignment in the nature of wealth is under way--transforming ordinary individuals into powerful stewards of their own financial futures, and all corporations into risk managers. Deep structural shifts in financial markets and in economic value are profoundly altering the nature of wealth, catapulting most workers from spectators to players in the new economy. As of mid-1998, American households controlled 59 percent of all stocks held in the nation, a figure that underscores a fundamental new truth: wealth is not just for the wealthy anymore.

In business, change occurs so fast that once-internal management activities, like setting prices, are now migrating into the marketplace. The role of human resource departments will transition from managers of administrative functions to builders of human asset portfolios, as the labor market establishes a price for each employee. And strategic risk units, the complement to strategic business units, will enable companies to identify, isolate, and trade risks in financial markets.

In Future Wealth--the companion volume to the authors' bestselling book Blur, and the long-awaited follow-up to Stan Davis' famous Future Perfect--Davis and Meyer offer a compelling vision of what lies ahead. It relies on three major consequences of the newly connected economy: risk as an opportunity, not a threat; the growing efficiency of financial markets for human capital; and the need for new forms of social capital. These three developments are combining in ways that will forever change how individuals, companies, and societies create, accumulate, control, and distribute wealth.

According to Davis and Meyer, wealth creation in the Information Age has been more financial (bearing, trading, and managing risks) than real (producing and consuming goods); wealth accumulation is shifting from earned income (salaries) to unearned (investments); and control of wealth is shifting from institutions to individuals.

Davis and Meyer describe a world in the not-so-distant future in which we will trade everything of value--including human capital, talent, and other intangibles--in efficient markets. Companies will begin to invest directly in their employees, not secondarily through training and development, and to treat business units as units of financial risk whose worth equals the quality of their intellectual capital. Individuals will think less about jobs and more about investing in their own human capital. As average citizens gain more knowledge about investments, they will begin to accept higher risk for the potential of higher rewards, turning the concept of risk from threat to opportunity. But future wealth will depend not merely on a healthy appetite for risk, but also on stronger social safety nets designed to balance new individual freedoms with commensurate order.

From how we work and earn, spend and save, manage our corporations, plan our mortgages, taxes, retirement, and more--the new economy will provide opportunities for every individual to reap unprecedented rewards. Describing both the enormous possibilities and potential consequences of this exciting new world, Davis and Meyer outline the principles that will help make every person's net worth and every corporation's growth add up to a society rich in both the human, financial, and real aspects of wealth.

About this title

Review:

If you wanted a glib way to sum up how the economy works today, you could say we've gone from hardware to software, from selling tangible things such as railroads, cars, and airplanes to selling less tangible ones such as information services. In fact, services grew from 31 percent of U.S. economic output in 1950 to 55 percent in 1998. In Future Wealth, Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer explain why they think we're headed toward a new stage of economic development in which "human and intellectual capital [is] the most highly valued resource."

Remember how David Bowie sold Bowie Bonds a few years back, essentially leasing out his future earnings from royalties and concert revenues so he could get $55 million in cash up front? That's just the beginning, say the authors. Today thousands of people we've never heard of accept signing bonuses to go to work for companies, and soon many exceptionally talented individuals will imitate Bowie's move--sell stock in their future earnings. Regardless of whether we're fortunate enough to offer ourselves to the financial markets in the form of stocks or bonds, or even to command signing bonuses, each of us has unprecedented potential to become wealthy, the authors posit. More and more, our salaries will become chump change compared to the money we make from investments. Add to that the supposition that we carry around untold capital in our brains, and Future Wealth shows a future that we'll definitely want to be a part of. --Lou Schuler

From the Back Cover:

"The Internet revolution has so altered the economic foundations of post-industrial society that entirely new ways of looking at wealth are evolving. Future Wealth discusses the impact of global electronic markets on the individual investor as well as on the corporation and provides a valuable guide to the far-ranging, sometimes daunting financial and social transformations ahead."
-Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Former Secretary of State

"Future Wealth is a masterpiece, full of breakthrough insights and bold recommendations. A must read for both individuals and companies that intend to succeed in the new economy."
-Walter V. Shipley, Chairman of the Board, Chase Manhattan Corporation

"Whether you are self-employed, an Internet entrepreneur, a manager in a large corporation, or a policy wonk, this book is essential reading if you want to master the new economy."
-Ken Lay, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Enron Corporation

"In the digital age, what you earn is far less important than what you are worth. This eye-opening, provocative book illustrates the real value of dot.self and shows how to buy and sell derivatives of mental capital. Read it and gain an appetite for risk."
-Nicholas Negroponte, Cofounder and Director, MIT Media Lab

"As individuals become more aware of their wealth, and more responsible for managing it, our society will change. Future Wealth offers a compelling vision of our financial future."
-Art Ryan, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Prudential Insurance Company of America

"Davis and Meyer, in a sound analysis, have mapped out many astounding and profound societal changes likely to result from the Internet revolution."
-Frederick W. Smith, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Federal Express

"Future Wealth offers a mind-stretching look at how an efficient, transparent Internet-connected economy could work. It helps you see how the unthinkable might actually be possible."
-Clayton M. Christensen, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School, and Author of The Innovator's Dilemma

"Future Wealth is a major, necessary book for both business strategists and public policy makers. Davis and Meyer offer a compelling vision of economic growth for all people, companies, and societies."
-Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co.

"A terrific read. Challenges even the most sophisticated assumptions about wealth, risk, and value in a connected economy."
-Jim C. Curvey, President and COO, Fidelity

"A provocative book that stimulates readers to think about how the revolution in information technology opens up new contracting possibilities for their human and financial capital."
-Bob Kaplan, Professor, Harvard Business School, and Coauthor of The Balanced Scorecard

"Davis and Meyer have done it again. In their last bestseller, Blur, they described the connected economy from 25,000 feet. Now, in Future Wealth, they bore down to ground zero, exploring the implications of the new economy for personal investors, private citizens, individual firms, and even governments. The boldness of the thinking and the clarity of the writing put Future Wealth in a class by itself."
-Thomas Petzinger Jr., Contributor, The Wall Street Journal

"Future Wealth is a wide-ranging and provocative book that will make you think. It may well reorder your personal business strategies as you negotiate the rapids of today's global economy."
-Alex Trotman, Retired Chairman of the Board and CEO, Ford Motor Company

"Two decades of formidable restructuring, innovation, and wealth creation have left everyone puzzled about how to fit into the new scheme of things, how to avoid being left out, and how to avoid being suckered. This book is a formidable manual on how to make sense of risk and opportunities. Unlike the get-rich-quick literature, it will make you work smarter as well as harder. A must for anyone who wants to go beyond the clichs and quacks."
-Rudi Dornbusch, Ford Professor of Economics and International Management, MIT

"Financial institutions secured by intellectual capital? Mutual funds representing shares in people? Future Wealth offers an intelligent and provocative look at the implications of an emerging 'connected' economy, where risk becomes opportunity and human capital is more bankable than tangible assets. This book will change how you think about your job, your company, and doing business in the new century."
-Steven M. H. Wallman, Former SEC Commissioner, and Chairman of the Board and CEO, FOLIO[fn] Inc.

"Davis and Meyer show us that the Internet doesn't just change business-it will transform wealth, employment, and social institutions as well. Future Wealth is a compelling book, important for both private citizens and policy makers."
-The Right Honorable Brian Mulroney, Former Prime Minister of Canada

"Davis and Meyer chart the transfer of value from hard assets in property, plant, and equipment to the new drivers of wealth such as intellectual property and creative, innovative people. Future Wealth is superb."
-Peter Munk, Chairman of the Board, Barrick Gold Corporation

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1578511941
• ISBN 13: 9781578511945
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224