The Dizzy Pace of Change: Thomas Friedman Has a Recipe to Thrive

IMF Blog, January 11, 2017

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“We’re in the middle of 3 accelerations; the market, mother nature, and Moore’s law."
Moore’s law: "the power of microchips will double every 24 months."
Mother nature: "climate change, biodiversity loss and population."
The market: "digital globalization."
These three accelerations "feed off each other" and together are "transforming the workplace, geopolitics, and community."

Workplace: rapid technological change is altering jobs and skills needed.
Geopolitics: accelerating forces reshape global interactions and power dynamics.
Community: local social fabric influences how people adapt to change.

Friedman’s view: healthy communities help people adapt: "The more people are anchored in communities where they feel connected, protected and respected, the more people are ready to reach out and experiment."
Conversely: "The less they feel connected, protected and respected, the more they’ll want to build walls to protect themselves from change."
Example cited: Friedman uses his Minnesota hometown as an example of a community that helps adaptation.

Friedman’s observation on research speed: "I think any economist trying to do research on current events, just trying to amass the data, understand the data, and spit out some conclusions before the data moves, is going to be very, very challenged."

Friedman discusses these themes in his book: Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations.
A podcast interview is available: "Listen to the full interview" (SoundCloud embed referenced).

iMFdirect, January 11, 2017.