Jeremy Rifkin

Updated at: Dec. 31, 2010, 7:43 p.m.

Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, is the author of sixteen books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages and are used in hundreds of universities around the world. His 1995 book, The End of Work, is an international bestseller that is widely credited with helping shape the current global debate on technology displacement, corporate downsizing and the future of jobs. His 1998 bestseller, The Biotech Century, addresses the many critical issues accompanying the new era of genetic commerce and is the most widely read book in the world on the biotech revolution. Mr. Rifkin's 2000 bestseller, The Age of Access, explores the vast changes occurring in the capitalist system as it makes the transition from geographic markets to e-commerce networks and from industrial to cultural production.

In his newest book, The Hydrogen Economy, published in September 2002, Rifkin takes us on an eye-opening journey into the next great commercial era in history. He envisions the dawn of a new economy powered by hydrogen that will fundamentally change the nature of our market, political and social institutions, just as coal and steam power did at the beginning of the industrial age.

Mr. Rifkin holds a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a degree in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Rifkin is an advisor to heads of state and government officials around the world and speaks frequently before business, labor and civic forums. He has also lectured at more than 500 universities in some 20 countries in the past 30 years. Since 1994, Mr. Rifkin has been a fellow at the Wharton School's Executive Education Program, where he lectures to CEOs and senior corporate management from around the world on new trends in science and technology and their impacts on the global economy, society and the environment. Mr. Rifkin's monthly column on global issues appears in many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times in the U.S., The Guardian in the U.K., Frankfurter Allgemeine in Germany, Espresso in Italy, El Pais in Spain, and Le Monde in France.

Rifkin has been influential in shaping public policy in the United States and around the world. He has testified before numerous congressional committees and has had consistent success in litigation to ensure responsible government policies on a variety of environmental, scientific and technology related issues. He has been a frequent guest on numerous television programs, including CNN's Crossfire, Face the Nation, The Lehrer News Hour, 20/20, Larry King Live, Today, and Good Morning America. The National Journal named Rifkin as one of 150 people in the U.S. that have the most influence in shaping federal government policy.

Mr. Rifkin is the founder and president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, DC. The foundation examines the economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of new technologies introduced into the global economy.


Related Books

The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era