Gazing Into the Crystal Ball.The World Future Society (www.wfs.org), Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda is an urbanized, but unincorporated, area in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, just Northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a church located there, the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1850, which in turn took its name from , offers these top 10 forecasts for the future: 1. Stock market growth: The number of people investing in stocks and mutual funds will continue to grow, resulting in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Dow Jones Industrial Average The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. hitting 40,000 by 2016. 2. Economic changes: The U.S. economy may be headed for a period of deflation deflation: see inflation. deflation Contraction in the volume of available money or credit that results in a general decline in prices. A less extreme condition is known as disinflation. marked by excess supply and falling prices. 3. Going solo: Singleness is on the rise around the world, a trend that will have far-reaching effects on a wide range of industries. 4. Reproductive freedom: Developments in reproductive technologies may allow women to postpone motherhood by taking a career pill to reset their biological clocks Biological clocks Self-sustained circadian (approximately 24-hour) rhythms regulating daily activities such as sleep and wakefulness were described as early as 1729. . 5. An aging society: By 2030, more than half of all U.S. adults will be age 50 or older. 6. World hunger: Child malnutrition will be widespread for the next two decades unless biotechnology advances produce new strains of rice and other food plants that boost nutrition. 7. More play time: Leisure-oriented businesses will dominate the world economy and represent nearly half of the U.S. gross national product by 2015. 8. Ascendancy as·cen·dan·cy also as·cen·den·cy n. Superiority or decisive advantage; domination: "Germany only awaits trade revival to gain an immense mercantile ascendancy" Winston S. Churchill. of a new generation: The 80 million people born between 1977 and 1997-the so-called echo-boom generation-will wield more economic power than their baby-boomer parents because they began saving and investing money at an earlier age. 9. More brain power: Neurobiologists may one day be able to use gene therapy to increase people's learning abilities as well as reverse the effects of aging on memory. 10. Workplace as family: The office will function as a surrogate family for employees who depend increasingly on employers for social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales . |
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