#3. Discontent
In the US, 20% of American men aged between 25-55 are now unemployed. In the 1960s 95% of the same group had a job. This could be reason enough to get angry but the bad news doesn’t end there. Food prices are rising, energy costs are increasing and the US faces the prospect of economic decline relative to the emerging powers, most of which have come out of the global recession relatively unscathed. In Europe things aren’t much better. In the UK indirect taxes are going up and infrastructure investment (police, health, transport, education etc) is going down. This all adds up to people paying more to get less, which could clearly lead to trouble.

Implications
Rising rage founded on the realization that current generations may not enjoy the standards of living that were experienced by their parents and grandparents. Where this rage will be channeled is anybody’s guess, but we might see a resurgence of protectionist economic policies, anti-immigration rhetoric and populist right-wing politics. By the way, don’t write off the US just yet. It’s far larger economically than China at present and it’s still unclear whether China can change from an export orientated, low-cost manufacturing model to one built around upstream innovation.
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Please be aware that this list of trends does not replace previous lists but represents additional trends that are – or are expected – to emerge. They are generally additions rather than replacements and not necessarily the biggest trends either. They are simply things that interest me.