Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-251) and index.

Introduction -- People. Newly born Americans, aging baby boomers and why America's soaring population is a huge advantage ; Consumers and customers; savers and spenders: what they want and how they are changing the world around you -- Places. Global trade 2.0 and the phone ladies of Bangladesh ; The global middle class and their growing mountain of money: fuel for the boom -- Things. Competition, innovation and entrepreneurship: how we're going to solve the world's biggest problems and create vast wealth in the process ; Always on, always with you and always getting smaller (or: Better, faster, smaller, cheaper) ; Energy: why things are a lot better than you might think ; Adventures in health care: $175,000 worth of proton beams and Dr. Shetty's $2,000 heart surgery -- Change. Education, generations and change -- Epilogue. 2026.

Plunkett demonstrates that we are on the verge of a period of major economic growth, and presents a panorama of carefully documented developments in areas including energy, health care, education, demographics, global trade, evolving consumer habits, technologies and the rapidly-growing global middle class.