Building Wealth

The economy is moving toward one built on knowledge, and new technologies such as computers, robotics, biotechnology and advanced materials are reshaping how people create prosperity. Fast-growing new sectors are appearing while long-established fields like banking and selling goods have been remade. At the same time, national economies are giving way to a single, interconnected global economy.

The book asks what individuals, businesses and nations will need in order to prosper under these new conditions. Its answer favors putting resources into learning, schooling and public infrastructure rather than consumption. The author contends that a society's shared wealth comes first, and that strengthening this common foundation is what gives people the chance to build their own fortunes.

Written for anyone who wants to understand where the economy is heading, the book offers practical guidance for coping with change and succeeding in the economy of the twenty-first century. The author, Lester C. Thurow, is an economist who taught at MIT.