In 100 years : leading economists predict the future / edited by Ignacio Palacios-Huerta.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-177) and index.

Acknowledgments -- The world our grandchildren will inherit / Daron Acemoglu -- Through the darkness to a brighter future / Angus Deaton -- The cone of uncertainty of the 21st century's economic hurricane / Avinash K. Dixit -- Wealth and the self-protection society / Edward L. Glaeser -- Keynes, his grandchildren and ours / Andreu Mas-Colell -- American politics and global progress in the 21st century / John E. Roemer -- In 100 years / Alvin E. Roth -- The risks of the next century and their management / Robert J. Shiller -- Stray thoughts on how it might go / Robert M. Solow -- The geoengineered planet / Martin L. Weitzman -- Notes -- Contributors -- Index.

This pithy and engaging volume shows that economists may be better equipped to predict the future than science fiction writers. Economists' ideas, based on both theory and practice, reflect their knowledge of the laws of human interactions as well as years of experimentation and reflection. Although perhaps not as screenplay-ready as a work of fiction, these economists' predictions are ready for their close-ups. In this book, ten prominent economists -- including Nobel laureates and several likely laureates -- offer their ideas about the world of the twenty-second century. In scenarios that range from the optimistic to the guardedly gloomy, these thinkers consider such topics as the transformation of work and wages, the continuing increase in inequality, the economic rise of China and India, the endlessly repeating cycle of crisis and (projected) recovery, the benefits of technology, the economic consequences of political extremism, and the long-range effects of climate change. For example, 2013 Nobelist Robert Shiller provides an innovative view of future risk management methods using information technology; and Martin Weitzman raises the intriguing but alarming possibility of using geoengineering techniques to mitigate the inevitable effects of climate change.