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Top 10 Forecasts From Outlook 2005 Report

About This Issue
by Cindy Wagner, Managing Editor

Trends and Implications

Trend analyst Marvin J. Cetron, president of Forecasting International Ltd., has long tracked key trends in technology, economics, resources and the environment, the workplace, and other critical areas, reporting his findings and their implications to U.S. government agencies and other clients. Cetron makes these unique reports available to the World Future Society because of the importance and special relevance of these trends to our lives.

This issue of THE FUTURIST excerpts part one of the latest trend report, prepared by Cetron with science writer Owen Davies. Using the latest economic, population, energy, and environmental data, as well as observations on how society's values are shifting in relation to these trends, Cetron and Davies conclude that the global economy will continue its long-term march toward raising the standard of living for everyone everywhere. This progress is largely due to increased global unification and greater institutional transparency that will help stifle the corruption that contributed to recent downturns. In addition, the improvement of women's education and work prospects has contributed to a slowdown of world population growth that will also accelerate prosperity.

Challenges to progress remain, however, including a seemingly implacable love of consumption in the developed world that is contributing to stresses on the world's environment and resources, Cetron and Davies warn. See "Trends Now Shaping the Future: Economic, Societal, and Environmental Trends." The second part of the report, focusing on technology, workforce issues, management, and institutional trends, will appear in the May-June issue.

A trend toward increasing human longevity--and even the tantalizing prospects of achieving immortality--may distract us from one future that many of us are too frightened to face: death. Instead of raging against it, however, we could be doing a much better job of planning for it--and even improving the quality of our deaths. FUTURIST researcher Lane Jennings offers new ideas about dying the good death. See "Finding Better Ways to Die."

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