The Future of Success

From Robert B. Reich—political economist, distinguished public servant, and author of The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, and other acclaimed and best-selling books-a brilliant analysis of the new economy and how it is affecting our lives, for better and for worse.

The dizzying exuberance of the Internet-driven marketplace offers unprecedented opportunities and an ever-expanding choice of deals, products, investments, and jobs-ranging from the merely attractive to the nearly irresistible-for the people with the right talents and skills. The technology that is the motor of this transformation relentlessly sharpens competition. When consumers can shift allegiance with the click of a mouse, sellers must make constant improvements by cutting costs, adding value, and creating new products. This is a boon to us as consumers, but it's wreaking havoc in the rest of our lives.

Reich demonstrates that the faster the economy changes—with new innovations and opportunities engendering faster switches by customers and investors in response—the harder it is for people to be confident of what they will be earning next year or even next month, what they will be doing, where they will be doing it. In short, those fabulous new deals of the fabulous new economy carry a steep price: more frenzied lives, less security, more economic and social stratification, the loss of time and energy for family, friendship, community, and self.

With the clarity and insight that are his hallmarks, and using examples from everyday life, Reich delineates what success is coming to mean in our time—the pitfalls and downturns hidden in the ap-parent advantages and advances—and suggests how we might create a more balanced society and more satisfying lives. The trends he discusses are powerful indeed, but they are not irreversible, or at least not unalterable.

The Future of Success is a stunning, timely book, certain to galvanize the nation's attention and transform the way we look at our future.

About the Author:

Robert B. Reich is University Professor at Brandeis University and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis's Heller Graduate School. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. He is cofounder and national editor of The American Prospect, and his writings have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. This is his eighth book. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife, Clare Dalton. They have two sons.

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According to Reich, the former secretary of labor, the entrepreneurial group will dictate the future of how Americans will work—and how their lives will be shaped. The entrepreneurial group will do what large companies have done in the past: It will make products—such as software and movies—but will sell these products to large companies with recognizable names, who will then market them to consumers. Those in the entrepreneurial group will work more, earn more and be more creative and mobile, yet they will have little time for a life beyond their jobs: less sex, less children, less involvement with family and friends. During an era when expectations are changing rapidly, as people are "downsizing and outsourcing the family," Reich offers some solutions to enhance lives, including keeping lists of how we utilize our days. Not all of Reich's proposals are entirely plausible, though—one includes giving every eighteen-year-old $60,000 as a means of narrowing the gap between rich and poor. Reich's book, an examination of work and life in America, serves as a snapshot of how we could function in the "Age of the Terrific Deal."
—Paul Sullivan

Robert B. Reich is University Professor at Brandeis University and Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis's Heller Graduate School. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. He is cofounder and national editor of The American Prospect, and his writings have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. This is his eighth book. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife, Clare Dalton. They have two sons.