New OECD Study on Kondratieff Cycles

A Must for all World System Researchers. Its Kondratieff approach was
commented on extensively, among others, in EL PAIS Madrid
(http://www.elpais.es)

Arno Tausch





OECD:



The Future of the Global Economy: Towards a Long Boom? 

As the 20th century draws to a close, powerful forces of change are
converging that could set the stage for a long, sustained economic boom in
the next few decades -- the transition to a knowledge-based society with its
potentially huge productivity gains; the emergence of more deeply
integrated, global markets for goods, services, capital and technology; and
a fast-growing environmental awareness that could greatly accelerate the
shift to new, less resource-intensive production and consumption patterns.
The result could be several decades of above-average economic growth,
substantial increases in income and wealth, and significant improvements in
well-being across the world. But what will it take to unleash these dynamic
forces? Not only will it call for a range of initiatives to establish the
rules and frameworks for guiding the transition to a sustainable global
knowledge economy, but above all, it will require exceptional efforts among
decision makers in government, business and society at large to encourage
continuous innovation, creativity and high levels of investment, and to
promote bold new approaches to closer international cooperation and
institution building. Inevitably some countries will benefit more than
others, but a long boom with all its wealth creating capacity would offer a
unique opportunity to reverse the trends of the last decades towards
deepening inequality and exclusion. This book reviews the forces driving
economic and social change in today's world. It asesses the likelihood of a
long boom materialising in the first decades of the 21st century and
explores the strategic policies essential for making it happen. Further
Reading 21st Century Technolgies: Promises and Perils of a Dynamic Future. 
OECD Code 031999021P1