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.

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.