As amazing as it seems to those of us at the forefront of business and technology in the 21st century, there are still about 1 billion women, in both developing and industrialized nations, who remain outside the productive mainstream of the global economy. They have been kept out of the workplace or else put in such menial and unproductive jobs that they might as well have been out of work. But, at long last, these women have started entering the mainstream for the first time. What are the implications of adding 870 million new workers and consumers to the global economy by 2020, and 1 billion by 2030? We'll explain.

As we’ve explained in prior issues, the United States is unique among the world’s wealthiest nations in have a growing, dynamic population and an economic tradition that positions it to make the most of that asset. Managing the demographic factors behind that reality will prove challenging, but the Trends editors have every reason to believe that we’ll be successful. What’s ahead? What will the United States look like in 40 years? We’ll give you our best answers to these questions, while identifying the biggest uncertainties.