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Environmental Scanning through a collection of:
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, TRENDS AND TREND BABIES 1999-2009



 

What is a Sign of the Times? Signs of the times are the result of information gathering that looks for inventions, innovations, attitudes and actions. Signs of the times come from many sources, are systematically gathered and have meaning for the future.

What is a Trend? A trend is long-range and persistent; it effects many societal groups, grows slowly and is profound. In contrast, a fad is short-term, "in", effects particular societal groups, spreads quickly and is superficial.

What is a Mega-trend? A mega-trend extends over many generations, and in cases of weather, mega-trends can cover periods prior to human existence. They describe complex interactions with many factors and they often represent the introduction of several new paradigms or worldviews that arise in hunting and gathering, agriculture, and industrial societies.

Trend babies: Here you find general trends or signs of new trends ("trend babies") from the categories social, technical, ecological, economic or political. Trend babies grow from innovations in the above categories that have the potential of going mainstream in the future (for example: just a few years ago, alternative medicine was truly alternative. Now it is big business and very respectable). The choice of trends is naturally influenced by the author's values.

Trend families: Very often, the chosen Signs are members of a trend family. A parent trend (for example, the change from an industrial society to a knowledge-based society) is well documented. The ways in which such sweeping trends play themselves out in various parts of the community represent the "members of that trends family".

Examples: Jobs in the industrial sector have shrunk causing widespread unemployment.

 

Many countries see small business as a solution to unemployment, driving unprecedented attention to small business in many countries legislatures.

Another example of a trend related to the move from industrial to knowledge society is the privatization of the education industry.

As in all cases in Signs, sustainability is one of the larger branches from which many other twig-sized trends grow. Sustainability is "the property of being sustainable", "using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged". In Signs, I use it to mean sustainable development, "an approach to economic planning that attempts to foster economic growth while preserving the quality of the environment for future generations."

Confirming Trends: When does a "trend baby", gain acceptance as a bona fide trend? When it gets enough confirmation in the various media to show it is an increasingly accepted value, behavior or technology.

Geographical trend growth and "bellwether" geographic sites: There is also an attempt to follow the global spread of trends that have started in the West (for example, Women's rights are a generally accepted topic in the media and on the Internet. Just how and when women's rights develop in various countries can represent global growth of that trend.) Some places seem to lead development in one or a variety of areas and are looked to as the source of new trends. California has long been considered as bellwether for the United States. The Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark have been considered bellwether in social innovation.

All trends, to a greater or lesser degree affect our lives, our work and our futures. Our ability to understand that effect can many times make a positive difference in the quality of our lives.

 

Back to Signs of the Times.

 

from December 10, 2000
 

Search Signs of the Times:

 

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Zero Pollution Motors Inc.

Dec. 1, 2000

http://www.zeropollution.com/
zeropollution/about_us.html

 

BBC News

October 26, 2000,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/
hi/english/world/americas/
newsid_992000/992431.stm

 

Business Week Advertising section

December 3, 2000

http://www.bwadsections.com/
smartcars/smcarenviro.htm

Press release. Trends in pollution free car development:

Compressed air- Zero Pollution Motors Inc. is ready to produce compressed air powered taxi’s in Mexico.

Fuel cell vehicles will dominate Iceland in the next years. Ford, Daimler-Benz, and Ballard Power Systems have formed Ecostar Electric Drive Systems Co., to commercialize automotive fuel cells by 2004.

Hybrids- Toyota became the world's first automaker to put a hybrid into production.

There seems to be a lot of talk about fuel cells taking the lead in the pollution free transportation era and even in power production (see the next Signs of the Times). There are still problems to solve, but they appear solvable.

Trend - Pollution Free cars.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Utne Reader

Sept-October 2000

Original story New Scientist, April 29, 2000

 

Metro (Göteborg)

Katarina Arnstad Emblad November 30, 2000

Trial by Laptop

 

 

 


16-year Old Thought Again When He Met His Victim.

Courts all over the world are struggling with how to handle huge caseloads. The State of Espirito Santo in Brazil are trying an Electronic Judge, a computer program that aids a local judge in sorting out the problem at the scene of the crime.


Uppsala, Sweden, is trying to keep young criminals from repeated court visits. They are offered punishment or the chance to go through a program called “Interrupt”. There they meet their victim face-to-face and go through the crime detail by detail. A trained mediator guides the process. The process is so powerful that it has stopped many 15-16 year olds from continuing with criminal behavior.

Here are human based and technical solutions to social problems. We have not been too cleaver at solving these problems in the past. Many young people believe in technical solutions to many problems. One scenario is that both have their place.

Trend - Struggling with criminality

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Papri Sri Raman, India Abroad News Service Chennai

December 1, 2000

http://in.news.yahoo.com/
001201/43/dbud.html

'Small' to become buzzword in Indian power scene At the fourth Energy Summit in Chennai by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). They felt that India must open its doors for small hydro energy plants. The goal is to meet the growing energy needs of India. The example used as a model is a hydel plant built in Darjeeling, West Bengal, in 1897. It is still running, reports 94 per cent efficiency, works on renewable energy and generates no waste. The total system needs to be looked at, distribution and silting in some rivers.

An alternative (see the next Signs of the Times) is to look at what is happening in California, where people are creating their own energy (mostly solar at the present) and are selling extra to the electric grid.

Trend- Local and small vs global and large.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

National Foundation for Women Business Owners

September 2, 2000

http://www.nfwbo.org/
key.html

Key Facts The National Foundation for Women Business Owners reports that “as of 1999, women-owned firms accounted for 38% of all firms in the U.S. Across the world, women-owned firms typically comprise between 1/4 and 1/3 of the business population. The number of women-owned firms increased by 103% nationwide, Between 1987 and 1999 employment increased by 320%, and sales grew by 436%.”

These figures include small and large businesses.

Trend - Growing gender Equality

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

United Nations Human Development Programme

August 2000

http://www.undp.org/
hdro/index.htm

http://www.undp.org/
hdro/trends.htm

http://www.undp.org/
hdr2000/english/book
/back1.pdf

  The Human Development Index Report for 2000 shows improvement for a number of countries. The index is based upon life expectancy, infant mortality, school enrollments, adult literacy, clean water availability, children underweight along with gross domestic development. In all there are 174 countries in the index. In 1995, Sweden was nr. 10, 1998 nr. 2 and in 2000, no. 6, the United States was no.4 in 1995, no. 18 in 1998 and no. 3 in 2000. India was no. 139 in 1995 and `98 and moved to no. 128 representing a move from the lowest group to the middle group. Other countries weren’t so lucky; Sierra Leone was no. 174 in all three years.

With increasing numbers investing in stocks, it might be wise not only to look at the company, the field, and the countries they are in, but the HDI as well before deciding.

Fluxuating Human development growing.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

World Watch Institute

Anne Platt McGinn

November 18, 2000

http://www.worldwatch.org/
alerts/001118.html

UniScience CANCER, international publication of the American Cancer Society. December 1 issue .

Chief researcher Jonathan D. Buckley, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., from the Department of Preventative Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

http://unisci.com/
stories/20004/1130005.htm

STEPPING OFF THE TOXIC TREADMILL

 

 

 

 

Child's Exposure To Pesticides Hikes Lymphoma Risk
Farmers will use 2.5 million tons of pesticides on this year's crops, pesticides that are 10-100 times more potent than formulations used just 25 years ago. A growing number of farmers, however, are adopting integrated pest management (IPM) techniques. These methods, which in many cases reduce costs and increase crop yields, use a combination of natural pest control methods, with limited use of pesticides as a last resort. Children who have been exposed to household insecticides and professional extermination methods within the home are three to seven times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with children who have not been exposed to pesticides.

Having identified the problem and the answer with research will we see a decreasing trend in childhood lymphoma?

Trend baby A decrease in childhood lymphoma.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

ABOUT EDUCATIONFrom Bob Timm, About Education Editor

November 28, 2000

http://about.com/
education

http://www.toshiba.com/
tai/exploravision/

  “Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Associations are challenging students to envision the technology of the future.”

Move evidence that technology will continue to be a driving force in the future. Visionscentret Framtidsbygget challenges companies to encourage young people to envision human development in the future.

Trend- Technology as a driving force in the future
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from November 14, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.individual.
com/servlet/BuildIssue
?mode=topics&content
_src=/frames/topic.
shtml?topic=2874
&date=20001023
&inIssue=TRUE

Individual.com
U.S. Newswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation

October 23, 2000

American White House Press Release

President Clinton Names Five Members To The White House Commission On Complementary And Alternative Medicine Policy A White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine has been formed. It will provide a report to the President on legislative and administrative recommendations that assure that Americans get the benefits of both traditional and alternative medicine. The appointees to the Commission have experience or research in research acupuncture, guided imagery, Chiropractic, home hospice services, Chinese herbal medicine, Osteopathic Medicine and other mind/body approaches.

This is a sign of the beginning of the end of “alternative” medicine, something long awaited by many.

Trend - Increased acceptance of alternative medicine in the traditional world.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Wired News

Manny Frishberg

Oct. 19, 2000

World Resources Institute
October 16-18, 2000.
Creating Digital Dividens
Seattle, Washington

http://www.wri.org/

 

 

 
10/26/2000

http://www.utne.com/
daily/archive.tpl?d=
10/26/2000

Gates: Poor Need Meds, not PCs A recent conference called Digital Dividends was sponsored by 3com, Compaq, Eriksson, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia and others was intended to apply digital technology to sustainable development. When the topic turned to using information technologies to spur development and create markets among the worlds poor, Bill Gates focused on the need to tackle problems of disease and literacy as essential first steps to lifting the bottom tier of society. He drove home his point by saying “The percent of growth that an IT firm like Hewlett-Packard will get from people who make less than a dollar a day is minimal," Gates said. "Do people have any concept of what it means to live on less than a dollar a day? There's no electricity. Do they have PCs that don't use electricity?" Reporter Thomas Frank gives us a glimpse of the values held by a believer in free market economy. They believe free markets are fair and a more democratic force than elected governments. "By their very nature markets confer democratic legitimacy," says Frank.

The free market economy requires that new markets and cheap labor sources be continually created. That has been done to a large extent all over the world, and now the truly poor are left. It is felt by many that the poor desire to become the next cheap labor and new market because they believe they will be treated more fairly and more democratically.

Trend - Strong belief in free-market economy and globalization Earlier signs of globalization can be found in the Previous Signs of the Times (directly under the current Signs) April 27, 2000 - June 18, 2000. To locate past globalization trends use the search function under Edit (Redigera) and search for the following words: motor vehicles, anti-tobacco, global money market and stop hiv.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Swedish Radio, Station P1

Vetenskaps Radio

Nyheter från Vetenskapsradion
P1 kl 06.45, 07.42, 08.55
October 10, 2000

http://www.sr.se/
p1/program/vetenskap/
v_radion.htm

001013 Two Swedes have created a speaker that doesn’t need extreme sound levels in order to reach the audience sitting farthest back at a rock concert. One of the inventors is Erik Liljehag and the other is a professor of acoustics at Luleå’s Technical University. The speakers are being readied for production. The sound technician for Michael Jackson is expected to put in an order.

The saving in suffering and medical costs could be huge. Perhaps older audiences will be drawn to concerts again blending the age mix and making concerts more cross- generational.

Trend - Reducing the cost of public health.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Trendletter

October 5, 2000

Page 6

Global Labor Shortages National and state borders are becoming more porous as business scrambles to fill vacancies. The shortage of labor in many western countries has caused a turnaround in thinking about immigration. Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom all have long term labor needs. A variety of methods are being used to fill these needs through immigration such as offering trainee visas, making it easier for those with needed skills to enter, enabling immigrant families to bring in children as young as 18, one-time opportunities to sponsor a blood relative’s immigration, term-limited employment for workers outside the European Union, and by becoming a “immigration enterprise zone” where companies and immigrants could be together.

Anti-immigrant sentiment has not been higher in Europe since before the WWII. Yet, countries are realizing their need workers will grow. The reactions to increased immigration are bound to cause heated responses.

Trend - Increased immigration and mixing of populations all over the globe.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://chronicle.com/
free/v47/i06/06a01601.htm

October 6, 2000
The Faculty

Elizabeth Greene

 

http://web.nmsu.edu/
~pscott/isgem132.htm
,

International Study Group on Ethnomathematics

Good-bye Pythagoras? “Ethnomathe-
matics” embraces non-European methods of math; critics fear a decline in rigor
A growing group of teachers is using cultural analogies in mathematics in order to make the subject more relevant for students. It is called “Ethnomathematics” or math from a cultural perspective. Research is being done in the field, for example a study of how various Kenyan communities influence how primary school children are understand concepts of measurement. There are critics as well who feel this is not the best use of children’s time and that math is based upon the work of European thinkers.

We are seeing this cross-disciplinary approach in many areas of research, the writing of history books, in systems thinking and ecological studies. In increasingly culturally mixed societies, look for more inter-cultural approaches.

Trend- Increasing cross-disciplinary and and cross-cultural approaches.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Utne Reader

http://www.utne.com/
daily/archive.
tpl?d=11/01/2000

11/01/2000

Edited by Leif Utne

http://www.nadertrader.
org/

http://www.voteswap
2000.com/

Progressives Deeply Divided Over Nader Everyday new creative ideas on how to use the Internet reveal themselves, many around public opinion and democracy. In the American Presidential race the Green Party candidate Ralf Nader leaves Progressive voters with a dilemma. A vote for Nader could swing the electoral balance to Bush. Texas columnist Molly Ivins thought she had a solution. “If you live in a state where a vote for Nader could swing the electoral balance to Bush, says Ivins, find a Gore supporter in a state where Bush or Gore holds a commanding lead, and swap your votes.” A number of web sites were developed to help with the swapping process. However, they were stopped by California state law, which states that "broker the exchange of votes" is a violation of California state law.

We have reported on other creative attempts to use the Internet. In this case the laws of one State stopped the process. We look for this trend to continue.

Trend Internet in democratic processes.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

New Scientist Online News

http://www.newscientist.
com/dailynews/news.
jsp?id=ns9999120

November 1, 2000

Fred Pearce

Assessment of the Potential Effects and Adaptations for Climate Change in Europe, edited by Martin Parry (Published by Jackson Environment Institute, University of East Anglia).

Website: http://www.jei.uea.ac.uk.

Flood alert
A major European study on the impact of climate change predicts northern floods and southern deserts
The three-year study of the impact of global warming, Assessment of the Potential Effects and Adaptations for Climate Change in Europe, funded by the European Union, makes some of the following predictions:
°The number of people in northern Europe at risk of flooding in their homes will have doubled by 2050.
° A 20 per cent increase in flood risk in the Alps.
° Deserts will spread further south
° Forests in northern Europe will grow 70 per cent faster by 2080
° Climate zones suitable for specific crops will move north by 50 kilometers a decade
° Up to 90 per cent of Alpine glaciers will have melted by 2100
° Virtually all the existing coastal wetlands around the Mediterranean and Baltic will disappear as sea levels rise.
° Heat waves, forest fires, desertification, summer smogs and water shortages will hit Southern Europe.

This report also intimates deeper economic differences between rich and poor in Europe. The question now is if planning will reflect the results of this futures research or will it initiate positive action.

Trend: Climate Change
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from November 01, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Center for Science in the Public Interest
1875 Connecticut Ave.
NW #300
Washington, DC 20009
Fax 202/265-4954

May 25, 2000

http://www.cspinet.org/new/
tax_junkfood.html

Press Release
Found by John Blackwell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/
news/technology/
0,1282,38761,00.html

Sep. 13, 2000

Contributed to by Reuters
Source: Aase Dillmann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protein Spray
Could Heal
Sores

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has recommended that small taxes should be placed on soft drinks or other snack foods and the revenues used to promote nutrition and physical activity. Seventeen states and two cities including New York, California, and Chicago, already tax soft drinks or snack foods.

The tobacco industry was the beginning of a trend to prohibit businesses that are the direct cause of public health problems and deaths. Obesity and related health problems might be the motivator for the next round of legal

A human protein called keratinocyte growth factor-2, is being used as medicine to heal large, stubborn sores, like bedsores found on the elderly and bedridden. Phase II clinical trials, done by the American Food and Drug Administration are complete and more testing is scheduled. Phase II tests for safety and function of a new drug.

One of the first products to come from genetic research is about to be presented in this human protein spray.

Trend - Reducing the cost of public health.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

BERKELEY, California

October 10, 2000 (ENS)
Source:
AJ Oberg

future_in_sight@yahoo.com

(http://www.IwantCleanAir.
com)

CLICK HERE FOR CLEANER AIR American’s can comparison shop for their energy needs on the internet and at the same time raise money for clean air. The "I Want Clean Air" site has sponsors who donate money based on the number of visitors who come to the site and click on the "I Want Clean Air" button. The money is then donated to the Clean Air Conservancy. CAC then purchases sulfur dioxide trading credits. These credits each represent a ton of sulfur dioxide, which can be emitted by the industry that purchased them. When CAC purchases them are never used. One less ton of sulfur can be released by industry.

This is a new form of democracy. Citizens state what they want, companies pay and the environment gets cleaned. The government’s weak compromise between heavy polluters and environmentalists, resulted in the credits and was the only political contribution.

Trend - P New forms of democracy.

Earlier signs of this trend can be found in the previous Signs of the Times (directly under the current Signs) September 13, 1999 - April 7, 2000. To locate past democracy trends use the search function under Edit (Redigera) and search for the following words: Residence, Tiny and Poland.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Mind Jack

http://www.mindjack.com/
gable/revolution.html

October 15, 2000 Cate Gable

Cate Gable is a poet and writer (author of Strategic Action Planning NOW!), strategic marketing consultant in e-commerce, teacher, and President of

Axioun Communications International. She divides her time between Berkeley, CA; the Pacific Northwest; and Paris, France.

Revolution at Our Door IT, Ecology,& Soul Part One: Cultural Creatives “.....we are witnessing a convergence of transformational trends and technological developments” says the author. These are the trends which are converging:

°  Information technology (IT) advances & innovation
°  Environmental crises & concerns
°  Human & societal values realignment

These values are seen in a new demographic group identified Paul Ray called "Cultural Creatives."

If you are a “Cultural Creative” you Love nature and are deeply concerned about its destruction.

°  Want more equality for women at work and more women leaders in business and politics.
°  Want to be involved in creating a new and better way of life in your country.
°  Care intensely about both psychological and spiritual development.
°  Like people and places that are exotic and foreign, and like experiencing and learning about other ways of life.

Cultural Creatives are found in many different countries and over generational borders and might represent about 25% of the total population.

Trend - values changes

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Yahoo Daily News

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/ap/20001021/us/
fresh_water_degradation
_2.html

October 21,2000

JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press Writer

Report: Water Systems in Trouble World Resources Institute predicted that by 2025, at least 3.5 billion people will experience water shortages. With a population of around 6 billion that is around half the world's current population. These figures are based on a report that looks at the world's systems and how humans change them.

That means that your, your children and grandchildren living around the year 2024 could experience a major water shortage. A primary purpose of Future Studies is to look far enough into the future so that we can adjust our direction in time to avoid such catastrophic outcomes.

Trend- E
Water depletion

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Discovering Archeology
ISSUE 10

http://www.discovering
archaeology.com/
1000toc/10randn03
-space.shtml

September / November 2000

Michael A. Stowe , Associate Editor of Scientific American Discovering Archaeology.

PRESERVING TRANQUILITY BASE
One small step for a man, one giant job for archaeologists
One American university with money from NASA and the Space Grant Consortium, is preparing an nomination for the National (American) Register of Historic Places for the original lunar landing site: Apollo 11's Tranquility Base on the surface of the moon. The nomination is complicated because national laws have never been applied to another world, one that is designated as international territory by the United Nations Space Treaty of 1967.

The countries of the planet Earth are stretching out into the galaxy. They are taking the macro trend of private ownership with them. There is another macro-trend hidden here. As humankind grows it looks for new territories. We are not only in the process of conquering outer space, but colonizing it and “civilizing” it with historic places.

MacroTrend - (long, cyclic trends, some of which had their beginnings thousands of years ago and continue to affect us today.)

A trend to extend privatization to property rights, mineral rights, water rights, rights to airwaves, ownership of genes and plants etc.

A trend of homo Sapiens to move to open or conquer new territory when the population gets too large.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Wired News Report

SOURCE: Global Alliance for Transnational Education

http://www.wired.com/
news/technology/0,1282,
38761,00.html

Sep. 13, 2000

Contributed to by Reuters
Found by: Aase Dillmann

Protein Spray Could Heal Sores A human protein called keratinocyte growth factor-2, is being used as medicine to heal stubborn sores, like bed sores found on the elderly and bedridden. Phase II clinical trials, done by the American Food and Drug Administration are complete and more testing is scheduled. Phase II tests for safety and function of a new drug.

One of the first products to come from genetic research is about to be presented in this human protein spray.

Trend (S) - The development of biotechnological products.

Reducing the cost of public health.

The development of biotechnological products.

Reducing the cost of public health

Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from September 25, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.motherjones.
com/mother_jones/SO00/
activist_campuses.html

Mojowire Magazine
MotherJones
Keith Meatto

September/October 2000

Real Reformers, Real Results
Our Seventh Annual Roundup of Student Protest
Student activism in the US reached a record high of 46 percent among college freshmen. That was the largest percentage since 1966. These public protests were about an end to the use of sweatshop labor by those who make clothes for sale in colleges, affirmative action, global economy, and living wage concerns. Their methods haven’t changed much from the sixties as they employ rallies, sit-ins, hunger strikes, occupation of the dean's office and even marches in the nude. Minority students also crusaded against racial insensitivity.

In 1997, William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote in “The Fourth Turning” about those born between 1982 and approx. 2000, saying that they ”will vex free marketers with heir demands for trade barriers, government regulation, labor standards, and public works” It looks as if they were right.

Increasing Student Activism

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.utne.com/
daily/archive.tpl?d=09/08/00

Kristen Lombardi,
Boston
Phoenix

September 12, 2000

"Temporary Insanity: The Life of a Temp Worker" Temporary workers have started complaining about job security, low benefits and uncertain hours. They are organizing for better working conditions in groups. A Boston group has started the Campaign on Contingent Work under a network called the National Alliance for Fair Employment.

It was a matter of time when the downsized legions working temporary jobs started to complain. Will this trend increase or die out? There are a number of scenarios, but it is up to the temporary workers and we will just have to keep watching.

Worklife

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.utne.com/daily/
archive.tpl?d=09/07/000

Leif Utne

September 07, 2000

http://www.britannica.com/
bcom/original/article/
0,5744,10066,00.html

Britinnica.com
Steven Best- Reviewer

September 12, 2000

keith r. poster

August 25, 2000

"Science"

 
The Future Community Center

 
http://www.planet-tech.com/
community

Animal Rights and Wrongs

Dolphin Communication

A new paradigm is emerging along with evidence that animal intelligence and consciousness is greater than what established science have previously accepted. The new field of cognitive ethology- the study of animal intelligence is finding evidence of self-awareness and emotions in animals. The results are animal rights.

Scottish biologists report that dolphins use a ”clear and consistent vocabulary to communicate, with each individual developing a specific signature acoustic signal.” They use specific calls when they locate food.

This paradigm shift has been happening for some time. These important changes in our values happen slowly and often go unrecognized while leading to radically different decisions and behaviors.

Values -shifting paradigm

Trend to develop rights, women’s rights, handicapped rights, minority rights etc. Animal rights is the latest in this trend.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Michael Purdy

September 7, 2000

http://unisci.com/
stories/20003/0829002.htm

UNISCI

Making The Hunt For New Antibiotics A Little Easier A new process for making new antibiotics has been developed which will make it less expensive to create and easier to test compounds belonging to a class of drugs known as beta-lactams.

Beta-lactams are the traditional element in antibiotics that fight the spread bacterial infection. This new process could help them work again.

There are a number of researchers working on this problem, which could change some future scenarios radically. On April 7 and September 11, the trend to growing epidemics was noted in regard to Russia and HIV, TB, Cholera, Malaria and aids and Ebola.

Fighting the trend toward more and growing epidemics.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Cornell University and Futurist Update (WFS)

NEWS RELEASE:
Aug. 17, 2000

http://www.news.cornell.edu/
releases/Aug00/
new.workscapes.ssl.html

Contact: Susan S. Lang

Companies are turning to tents, trailers and other quick office fixes to meet demands of marketplace, Cornell study finds More flexible building structures and being created to meet the needs of business. Tent like structures that only take 28 days to erect are meeting the needs of workers. Employees rated their new tentlike environments highly, in performance, air quality and effectiveness. The demand for such structures is driven by "fluctuating demands for products and services, rapidly changing technology, mergers and acquisitions, changing workforce demographics and new ways of working, constantly shifting organizational strategies and fierce and unpredictable global competition."

Find complete information at http://iwsp.human.
cornell.edu/pubs/

This concept could extend into schools and other public facilities that vary with local demographics. More money and care could be put into traditional buildings which are built to last generations.

Possible beginning of a trend in more flexible construction.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Press Release

SOURCE: Global Alliance for Transnational Education

September 12, 2000

http://biz.yahoo.com/
prnews/000912/
co_gate_al.html

Alvin Toffler to Address the Future of Learning at Global Education Conference Distance, electronic learning is monitored by a global organization, which is an alliance of business, education, and government. The Global Alliance for Transnational Education has taken upon itself advocacy and quality assurance tasks for transnational education providers. The courses they monitor include university distance-learning programs, corporate and workforce training programs, online universities.

Most industries have had governmental agencies developed to monitor them. Perhaps a trend for the globalizing future is more regulation initiated by industry itself.

Trend - self monitored industries?

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.homeopathic.org/
controlled.htm

Morag A Taylor,
David Reilly,
Robert H Llewellyn-Jones,
Charles McSharry,
Tom C Aitchison

British Medical Journal BMJ 2000;321:471-476

August 19, 2000

Controlled Clinical Studies Published in Peer Reviewed Journals Tested for the fourth time the use of homeopathic medicine works significantly better than a placebo for relief of chronic hay fever. The research was found in the August 18th edition of the British Medical Journal.

Several radio programs in the summer reported on hospitals that were doing research on the alternative medicines their patients were taking while under care in their hospital. The goal was to recognize the alternative medication and coordinate it’s use with established treatments.

Increased acceptance of alternative medicine in the traditional world.
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from September 11, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://in.news.yahoo.com/
000904/8/5w5h.html

September 4, 2000

Mutual Funds More Attractive Than Banks: India's Watchdog The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) says. "Mutual funds outperformed bank deposits ... while mutual funds increased their resources by Rs185.16 billion, there was a decline in accretion to bank deposits last year," SEBI said in its annual report for 1999-00. "Thus there has been a shift in savings from bank deposits to mutual fund units," SEBI said.

Uses of mutual funds have also gone up in European countries as a way of earning for pension.

Reliance on mutual funds, or the securities market for savings, pensions to add to what countries can provide.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.sr.se/p1/
program/vetenskap/
samhalle.htm

Vetenskapsradion
P1 onsdagar 13.20 - 13.45
Gunnar Kullgren professor in psychology at Umeå Universitet

September 5, 2000

Om människor och samhälle i en föränderlig tid In poorer countries people stricken by schizophrenia get better than those with the same disease in the west world. More of them get better and the illness and easier to live with. A study is going on now in Ethiopia and Nicaragua’s countryside where they are trying to find the reason to the differences between poor and rich countries mentally ill.

Major mental illnesses have been difficult for people in all cultures to address. Cancer has been handled with more attention and understanding that the mental illnesses. The real mental health message here is som researchers ability to realize that answers to such difficult problems might now always be solved in the west world.

True diversity - learning from others.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://www.sustdev.org/
industry.news/0551.shtml

Sustainable Development International

September 4, 2000

Global Eco-Standards for Motor Vehicles in the Works An agreement to set global standards for motor vehicles have been reached by the United Nations that will reduce pollution for member countries. When written, these regulations will help to uniformly provide greater environmental protection, energy efficiency, and vehicle safety and pollution reduction. The Russian Federation became the eighth country to sign the agreement.

Those countries participating may submit suggested regulations out of which a proposal will be prepared for adoption.

Globalisation continues. While the regulations are not yet in place, they are sure to have an effect on many in car related businesses.

A result of increase in globalization and environmental consciousness

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

By Matthew Herper

September 5, 2000

http://www.forbes.com/
tool/html/00/aug/0829/
feat2.htm

Forbes.com

Atoms Offer Giant Leap In Computing Power Computers run by atoms is the expectation of new work in Quantum mechanics. Faster quantum computers use qubits as their measurement. Isaac Chuang and team at IBM built a 5-qubit-quantum computer used to solve a relatively simple mathematical problem two weeks ago. A revolution in computer power is expected in 20 years. Quantum computing is so new that scientists can only begin to imagine what it might one day be able to do.

Many of us know how fast the last 20 years have flown by. There is no reason to believe that the next 20 won’t fly by just as fast. This invention could open the doors to new areas of business and make some businesses obsolete. This might be a hint to Universities as to subjects to offer students who will be active in the workforce in 20 years.

Increased speed and capacity in technology.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

AUGUST 13 2000
JoAnn Kohlbrand
and Julie Foster
Located by Dr. Peter Bishop, UHCL
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

September 5, 2000

http://www.worldnetdaily.
com/bluesky_exnews/
20000813_xex_human
_id_imp.shtml

Human ID implant to be unveiled soon A working prototype of an implant capable of measuring and transmitting critical body function data and the whereabouts of human wearers has been developed by a company known as Digital Angel®. It is the operational combination of biosensor technology and Web-enabled wireless. In order to monitor an individuals location it will by linked to a global positioning satellite location-tracking system. Applications will be in locating missing persons and in monitoring physiological health data for providing better health care. In the Internet world it can be used a means of verifying online consumers. The owner can also turn it off when desired.

The consequences both for positive and negative and positive consequences of this technology are important to think about. It is up to the integrity of the companies selling it and the consumers who buying it to assure proper use.

Technology driven values crash- quality of life and security for loss of privacy.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The New Republic Online
MOSCOW DISPATCH
Mental Health

By MASHA GESSEN
Issue date: 08.28.00

http://www.tnr.com/
082800/gessen082800.html

Russia’s Silent Aids Crisis Projections vary wildly, but no one doubts that in a couple of years millions of Russians will have HIV. In Krasnogorsk, a town in the Moscow region, 3 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 25 are infected with HIV, a rate comparable to that in Angola, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. Of the 50,000 registered HIV cases, more than 20,000 were registered this year alone, which suggests a terrifyingly high rate of transmission.

As hard as it is to hear such horrible news, but the future is not only about the good news. We have to take it seriously as it has strong consequences for the countries nearest Russia and for the rest of the world who possibly will be called in to help with this situation.

Trend toward more and growing epidemics.
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from June 18, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/nm/20000519/sc/
stress_women_1.html

May 19,2000

Deena Beasley

Stressed Women Would Rather Switch Than Fight - Study ''Fight-or-flight'' behavior has long been considered the way all people cope with stress. Researchers are now finding that females, both human and animal are more likely to respond by seeking social contact. A study has shone that "females of many species, including humans, respond to stressful conditions by protecting and nurturing their young, and by seeking social contact and support from others -- especially other females".

Implication: New stress treatments for women.

Male/Female -Different yet equal

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

May 7, 2000

Jean Yoon

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/nm/20000507/bs/
autos_korea_3.html

3 Automakers Agree to Build 'World Car' Hyundai Motor, Mitsubishi and DaimlerChrysler have agreed on a technical alliance to build a one-liter world car.

We are getting closer to a monopoly situation in certain fields. The first candidate seems to be the auto industry. Will global monopolies be tolerated and who will monitor them?

Global monopolies

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

May 31, 2000

PRNewswire

http://www.individual.com/
servlet/BuildIssue

Cause Marketing Increasingly Successful According to Survey By Promotion Marketing Association and Gable Group A study has found that 85% of corporations market themselves in relation to a social cause. In 1999, 65 percent of not-for-profit organizations asked said they participated in cause marketing partnerships to raise money and attention.

Values have become commercial!

A deeper relationship to between companies and social values.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Trend Letter

Number 11 volume 19

May 25, 2000

Firing Clients

Profitability to Sour with Giveaway Programs

Two articles illustrate the value in doing the opposite of what has been traditionally expected. A publishing company called The New Hope Group tells uncooperative, unfriendly or disrespectful people that they no longer wish to do business with them. Their policy is to only do business with nice people.

Four large biotech and pharmaceutical companies began giving away patens on medicines.

One gives away something to gain market share overcome potentially negative publicity, save on the cost of keeping up patens and getting tax breaks and good publicity.

Give to Gain

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

World Watch Magazine

Howard Youth

http://www.worldwatch.org/
register/give.cgi?file=133a

Watching A World Watch article reports on a new trend between wildlife and people. We are no longer hunting them for fur or food, but hunting them in order to watch them.

As wildlife decreases, we are becoming more fascinated and more respectful of it.

A more respectful relationship between humans and their environment.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

UniSci

Source: Journal of Neuroradiology

26-May-2000

http://unisci.com/
stories/20002/0525004.htm

Brain Shown To Change As Dyslexics Learn Researchers at the University of Washington have found a method for improving the reading skills in dyslexic boys.

A treatment program designed to improve their phonological abilities or skills in understanding and using the sounds of language has been tested. The energy levels expended in reading when from 4 to 1.8 and the boy's parents said they were reading voluntarily.

The cost saving for society are high with this treatment, when one considers the high percentages of incarcerated have reading disorders. It is often prisoner's inability to feel success any other way which has contributed greatly to their criminality.

Solving social problems that have a physiological basis.
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from June 02, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

http://distancelearn.about.
com/education/distancelearn/
library/
weekly/aa041800a.htm

April 13-14, 2000

Virtual College Collaboration Twenty-two virtual universities have signed an agreement of cooperation. Some of the subjects they have proposed for possible cooperation are: possible formation of a Virtual University CEO
Association, state and regional "virtual campuses" offering courses, degree programs, and collections of information about distance learning and online resources for finding -- and marketing -- distance education.

The wild west days of virtual education may be ending as the virtual education world organizes and begins to set standards, a sign of industry maturation.

Virtual Education becomes more mainstream.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Metro

May 16, 2000

Genetiska skillnader styr beteendet (Genetic differences rule behavior) A discussion is taking shape in the printed media in Sweden which re-evaluates what is biologically driven which is environmentally driven. The discussion is stimulated by newly found genetic discoveries and re-question what is "natural". They center on differences between men and women, but also include child behavior. They are leading to new conclusions generating new controversies.

Some of these conclusions are, some murders (by men) are a result of lack of serotonin, rape is natural's way for men to spread their seed, although the frontal lobe inhibits the behavior. It is natural for parents to sleep with their parents until quite old etc.

In the next few years there will be more information from genetic research that will force us to reevaluate who we are as humans. Our children are going to ask questions. Are we prepared?

Trend baby: Changes in humankind's view of itself in relation to gender rolls and in relation to other animals.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Trend Letter

Volume 19 Number 9

April 27, 2000

Smart Marketers Blend Traditional and Internet Selling Techniques Fifty percent more of cybershopers would complete transactions if there were someone they could speak to when visiting the site. An Internet industry researcher reports these findings.

Retailers maintain their stores and go online as well. No one is sure which way shopping trends will develop. As noted above we can't get away from our need for human contact.

Move back to personal contact.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Sustainable Business.com

Tom Paladino

http://www.sustainable
business.com/html/
insider/may00/launch.cfm

May 30, 2000-05-30

The Launch of the First Industry Standard for Green Buildings The American Building Industry has just gotten it's first certification system for green buildings. It is called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System).

Standards in any industry indicate that a trend has been seriously integrated into the behavior of a system and is maturing.

Movement toward sustainability

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/
editorial/freeforall/current/
index_ld5520.html

May 30, 2000

Adventurous venture capital The use of venture capital to fund small, newly started companies has been rising since 1995. It is predicted that this bubble could burst. The trend has moved to Sweden and the globe.

Others should watch the trend of growing use of venture capital as a stimulant to the economy. It could be too much of a good thing.

The growing use of Venture Capital

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The Washington Post

Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer

http://washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/articles/A6706
-2000May25.html

Tuesday, May 30, 2000; Page A09

Testing the Market Since individual States in the U.S. have raised their standards in the last five years, the testing industry has been growing as a result of a need to measure how well the new standards are being met.

Testing and control will continue to grow. In adult education there is also a need for standards in e-learning. A recent article in The Atlantic Monthly reports that some Universities will specialize in accrediting courses.

The growth of the education industry, and the growth of education testing firms.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Inetmedia

http://lw2fd.hotmail.msn.com/
cgi-bin/getmsg?disk=
216.32.180.67_d918&
login=nataliedian&
f=52226&curmbox=
ACTIVE&_lang=&
msg=MSG959719340.11&
start=168758&len
=10725&mfs=496

For more information in Swedish:
http://www.naring.
regeringen.se

May 31, 2000

Kompetens-
sparande

Competence saving

The Swedish government will stimulate life long learning. All wage earners and companies will have the opportunity to save in a personal account that will be subsidized by the State. The money is to be used for future competence development. The individuals employer will contribute to money to the employees account. Life Long Learning
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from May 15, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

icChina

http://www.icchina.com/
enews/ chinanews/
20000418005.htm

April 18 , 2000

Shanghai ranks first in social development in China. The following ten indexes developed by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have been used to measure "modernization" standards in China in 1998. The indexes are based on statistics issued by the National Bureau of Statistics.

They are: per capita gross domestic product (GDP), the share of non-agriculture output in the total GDP, the portion of the services sector output in the total GDP, the ratio of urbanites to the total population, the share of non-agricultural employees in the total employment, the share of university students among people aged between 22 and 24, the net population growth rate, the average life expectancy, the number of doctors and the literacy rate for adults.

China is predicted by some to become the next major power. (See earlier Signs of the Times). This measurement is one way to see if the prediction is warranted or not.

China as the new hegemonic power

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/nm/20000417/sc/
environment_water_1.html

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
h/nm/20000418/sc/
environment_water_2.html

April 17 2000

April 18 2000

Californians May Soon Drink Recycled Toilet Water

L.A. 'Toilet-To-Tap' Plan Hits Clog in Pipeline

Dan Whitcomb

Two stories from Yahoo explaining the new water reuse program developed for the San Fernando Valley (suburb of LA). The East Valley Water Reclamation Project would take (12 billion liters) of sewage water and send it to spreading grounds, where it would be filtered naturally for several years. The water would then seep into the ground, to blend with groundwater. Groundwater is then purified and used.

This could supply 70,000 families with tap water adding around 11 billion gallons (41 billion liters) a year to the water supplies. Notice the tone in the article titles to the left. A citizen and a politicians outrage were reported.

The technique is not new, it is a copy of natures own. What is new is it's application to the public domain from the "alternative sector". The question becomes a political and media problem which can discourage development.

Water and change process.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Utne Reader

Marjorie Kelly

www.business-ethics.com

March/April 2000

The New World Order

Business Ethics magazine reports six trends for the 21st century. These trends reflect the bringing of democracy to economics. One of those trends is: a growing recognition that social issues are financial issues. Those areas taken as examples are asbestos, nuclear power, breast implants, tobacco, fire arms, genetically engineered foods.

Business Ethics magazine reports six trends for the 21st century. These trends reflect the bringing of democracy to economics. One of those trends is: a growing recognition that social issues are financial issues. Those areas taken as examples are asbestos, nuclear power, breast implants, tobacco, fire arms, genetically engineered foods.

Will producers of telephones and microwave ovens be liable for health costs incurred as a result of the use of their products?

Ethics

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Utne Reader Online

http://www.utne.com/daily/

April 21, 2000

WhirledBank.org Thumbs Its Nose At IMF, World Bank A new trend in protest using humor is developing. Adbusters, media professionals who use their skills to highlight community problems, has been around for a while. Now The Whirled Bank Group joins them who use IMF and World Bank information to highlight the situation of third world debt in a cleaver and humorous way.

Something has changed when we can use humor and irony instead of anger and weapons as tools of protest

Humor in Protest

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Dagens Nyheter

Karin Bojs

Karin.bojs@dn.se

Page A5

April 14, 2000

Celler i hjärnan får nytt liv

Cells in the brain get a new life

A growth hormone IGF-1 has been found by Swedish researchers to double the growth of new brain cells. Possible future uses are in treating brain injuries, blood clots.

A great deal of research and testing must occur before this discovery is practical. It is seen as revolutionary.

Brain Research

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Uniscience

http://unisci.com/stories/
20002/0425005.htm

Ellen Goldbaum

April 25, 2000

New Method Found For Synthesizing Specialty Chemicals A method for synthesizing a wide range of specialty chemicals from cheap bulk chemicals. An example is

Ritalin, the treatment for children with attention-deficit disorders.

The new method lowers the number of potential steps in producing pharmaceutical agents from eight or ten to three.

A patent application has been filed. Another benefit of this process is that it could reduce the dosage required and some side effects.

While not a trend, scientific and technical discoveries are often drivers of change.

Possible trend driver

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/
editorial/freeforall/current/
index_ww1536.html

April 22nd - 28th 2000

Politics This Week AustriaĚs far-right Freedom Party, ItalyĚs right-wing alliance and LithuaniaĚs (Kaunas) extreme nationalist were all reported on the same news summary page.

This disturbing trend deserves to be understood and watched.

Trend toward nationalists in governments.
Back to Signs of the Times.

 

 from April 27, 2000

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

BEIJING XINHUA via NewsEdge Corporation

http://www.individual.com/
servlet/BuildIssue

April 18 , 2000

China Close to Finishing Human Genome Sequencing Task China is the only developing nation in an international project aimed at deciphering human genomes by 2003. The project will determine the health and longevity of human beings. Other participants are the United States, Japan, Germany, France and Britain. The results will be a source for developing genetics-based therapies.

Participation in this project might enable China to be a competitor in the businesses growing out of genetic-based therapies.

Human Genetics

China as new world power

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

World Watch Institute

http://www.worldwatch.org/
mag/2000/00-2.html

March/April 2000

The Earth Day 2000

(See Earth Day Special on our home page)

In order to halt further deterioration in our environment, a critical mass of those who understand the urgency of the problem must be reached. World Watch magazine predicts this will occur soon in the form of a major weather disaster in a populated area.

In Energy and Climate, Population and Land, Chemicals and Biology and Commerce and the Oceans, deterioration has been steady for the last 30 years. We actually have resources for 2 billion people living at middle class European standards. We are now 6 billion.

Environmental consciousness

Vs. Environmental disaster

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The Futurist

French Technology Press Office

One East Wacker Drive, Suite 3740, Chicago, Ill 60601. Telephone 1 312 222 1235; fax 1 312 222 1237.

January-February 2000

High-Tech Clothes Clothes are being developed with antibacterial properties that fight microorganisms on the skin, ceramic fibers that protect against ultraviolet rays, temperature sensitive jackets and scented and odor-resistant clothes.

Houses are smart, our food has health giving additives, so why shouldn't our clothing do more than just cover us? Having all these needs taken care of by products we might be preparing for the "caring society" predicted by Ian Pearson and other futurists.

A trend toward functionalism which blends what brings us enjoyment, style, status and relaxation with health, protection, and sustainability (the smart house that controls energy flows).

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Trend Letter

April 13, 2000

Banking Trends Community banks in the United States are growing by prioritizing services to small businesses and individuals in their communities.

Evidence of a small localizing trend that is balancing globalization.

Localization

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Christian Science Monitor Opinion page
http://www.csmonitor.com/
durable/2000/03/
28/fp11s1-csm.shtml

(more articles available at this site)

March 28, 2000

Counter the cybernetic Wal-Mart effect

Richard E. Sclove is research director of the Loka Institute (www.loka.org), a nonprofit organization concerned with the social effects of science and technology. He is the author of 'Democracy and Technology' (Guilford Press, 1995).

Annual online sales are projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2003. Some feel that sales tax should be permanently disallowed all over the globe. Others see a loss of revenue to state and local governments for schools, roads, and other public functions. Some predict that local business will be competing with the whole world, thus weakening local (and small) business and community. The collective desire to solve local problems is weakened and control moves nationally or globally leaving the individual with little say.

It was only a matter of time when the discussion of taxes on Internet sales would be a hot topic. The discussion is very American right now, but will spread. Taxation is opening to new discussions stimulated by on line commerce, with effects locally and globally.

Connected to globalizing and localizing trends.

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

Utne Reader

www.webwalking.com/
amwalks

www.bikefed.org

Book: Street Reclaiming: Creating livable Streets and Vibrant Communities.

March/April 2000

Pedestrian Power Walking and Biking are developing their own advocacy groups. America WALKs and National Center for Bicycling and Walking have affiliate groups in the U.S. and Europe.

While not a direct attach against the automobile, this movement is connected to the community

Simplicity Trend

Ecology Trend

*Source/Date

**Title

***Subject

****Trend

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/
editorial/freeforall/current/
index_sb2372.html

April 22nd - 28th 2000

Business Special: Doing well by doing good An ethics industry has developed in the United States. It is replete with consultants, conferences, journals and awards. The position of Corporate Ethics Officer, which hardly existed 10 years ago, is common in bigger companies.

They have their own organization, The Ethics Officer Association that has 650 members. Many are international corporations.

While have watched the development of ethics this is documentation of an "industry" where jobs and incomes are involved.

Ethics "Industry"
    Back to Signs of the Times.
 
 
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