The Next Global Stage: Challenges and Opportunities in Our Borderless World

Abstract

Introduction. The Plot. I. THE STAGE. 1. The World Tour. The Curtain Rises. The World as a Stage. A Speedy Global Tour. Meanwhile in Ireland. Finland: In from the Cold. What Is the Global Economy? Borderless. Invisible. Cyber-Connected. Measured in Multiples. 2. Opening Night. The World AG. Leading the Dinosaur. The View From the Hotel: Detroit. Busting the Budget. Gates to the Future. 14 AG: China. Putting an e in Christmas. 3. The End of Economics. Reinventing Economics. Economic Theories That Once Fitted the Times. New Fundamentals Require New Thinking. Turning the Taps On and Off. Deflation and the GDP Deflator. Interests Rates and Nest Eggs. Can Physics Help? A Complex World. The Curve Ball. Oscillating Wildly. Paradigm II. The Power of Politics. The Difficulty of Changing Habits. Uncle Sam Goes Global. The New Economic Paradigm. II. STAGE DIRECTIONS. 4. Playmakers. Finding Your Bearings on the Global Stage. How Nation-States Retard Economic Development. The Nation-State Fetish. Strong States. The Rise of the Region. Defining the Region-State. Indian Summers. Carried Away in China. Not All Regions Are Created Equal. Surprising China. Microregions. Flexibility. Size and Scale Matter, But Not in a Traditional Way. Regions Are Gaining Their Deserved Recognition. Practical Considerations. What a Successful Region Has to Do. Branding Places. The Will to Succeed. Organizing Regions. Other Unions. Free Trade Area or Fortress? 5. Platforms for Progress. Relentlessly Forward. Developing Technology Platforms. Language as Platform. English Inc. The Platform Profusion. Other Platforms. 6. Out and About. Border Crossings. Technology: The Fairy Godmother. BPO: India as a Launch Pad. Dormant India. More Than a One-Country Wonder. BPO as a Platform. Home Sweet Home. Myths and Half-Truths. The View from India. Reaping the Benefits. BPO in a Borderless World. 7. Breaking the Chains. The Portal Revolution. The Search. Have You Been Googled Recently? Paying the Bill: The Payment Revolution. On the Rails. Delivery: The Logistics Revolution. The Arrival of the Micro Tag. Cool Chains and Fresh Food. Deliverance. Using Logistics to Solve Bigger Problems. For Dinner. III. THE SCRIPT. 8. Reinventing Government. Disappearing Power. Beyond Distribution. Size Matters. Downsizing and Resizing. A Vision for Change. The Japanese Vision. Mapping the Future. Visions Versus Mirages. Government Vision. Getting Noticed. Only Educate. Closing Down Distance. A New Role for Government. China: Governing the Ungovernable. Malaysia's Corridors of Power. Singapore's Appetite for Reinvention. Swedish Rhapsody. The Craic of the Irish. 9. The Futures Market. All Change. The Technological Future. Technological Progress Means Death Is a Fact of Business Life. The Rise of VoIP and Its Impact on Telecoms. Join the March Early. The Personal Future. Embrace Leadership. Value Information and Innovation. Embrace Flexibility. The Corporate Future. The Homeless Corporation. Innovation, Inc. The Adaptive Corporation. Beyond Hierarchy. 10. The Next Stage. The Regional Future. Hainan Island. Petropavlosk-Kamchatsily, Russia. Vancouver and British Columbia. Estonia. The Baltic Corner. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Khabarovsk, Maritime (Primorye) Province and Sakhalin Island, Russia. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Kyushu, Japan. 11. Postscript. Reopening the Mind of the Strategist. Beyond the Daydream. Index.