America 3.0: The Coming Reinvention of America

[Valin]

The American:

America is currently in a painful transition period, but once it emerges, it will be more prosperous and free than ever before.

James C. Bennett and Michael J. Lotus

August 20, 2013

 

The United States of America is in crisis. The economy is supposedly in recovery, but it is the slowest and most painful economic rebound since the Great Depression. Unemployment is high and millions have dropped out of the workforce entirely. Many American families have suffered a collapse in their net worth since 2009. During the current administration, Americas debt has increased from ten trillion to sixteen trillion dollars. American businesses face a regulatory burden of well over a trillion dollars per year. Investment in start-up businesses is thwarted and innovation is far short of what it should be. The government is abusing its powers and attacking basic liberties.

 

All this bad news makes it easy to despair and to worry that the decline might just be permanent. But as bad as things are today and they will likely get worse for some years to come the future will be bright for the United States because we are, in fact, in a period of transformation, not decline.

 

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We guesstimate that by 2040, America 3.0 will be in full flower. The painful transition period will be over and 400 million Americans will be living in a prosperous and free society marked by rapid and exciting technological change. We anticipate many such changes, including:

 

Network technology will allow us to work anywhere, and with anyone, remotely. Individual- and family-scale businesses will be far more common and immensely more productive.

 

Driverless cars and other innovations in transportation will revolutionize how we travel and where we live and work, allowing us to disperse across the continent into exurban and semi-rural living.

 

3D printing and related technologies will lead to an internet of atoms with localized and even in-home manufacturing. There will be a manufacturing renaissance in the United States and the factory floor will be everywhere.

 

Medical technology will transform health care, with great gains in health and longevity achieved through enhanced diagnostics, custom-tailored drugs, and fewer medical emergencies.

 

Education will be delivered through a variety of media and methods, and traditional brick and mortar schools will be far less important than they are today.

 

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