My crystal ball

I can certainly go into more specifics, but as for what I see for the economic future for this country, and this world...

First, hold on and get ready for a ride...the next 20-30 years are going to blow your mind. The computer boom will be viewed as history as a small event compared to the materials advancements that are about to be made.

We're crossing over an age, in our lifetimes. From bronze, to iron, each time man has been able to make a material harder, stronger, or more useful than the period before, it represents a serious jump.

This serious jump that will change the world, is commonly called nanotechnology.

Without going into a great amount of scientific jargon, nanotechnology is the ability to build materials molecule by molecule, placing each one in the exact position to make material to the exact specifications.

Nature has been keying us in all along...that by building something with smaller materials and controlling how you build it, you can make things much stronger. A spider web has, pound for pound, greater strength that humans have ever built...or at least until recently.

I'll certainly go into greater detail about nanotech and what it will mean for your money later. What it will mean for society will be even greater. Imagine being able to build an airplane from material stronger than tool steel and lighter than aluminum? Imagine being able to fly a commercial sized airplane with only a battery. It's coming.

Carbon nanotubes are the first real usable application, and they're under serious and vigourous development as you read this...but it is only scratching the surface.

There is also going to be an enourmous explosion in systems biology, which will basically be treating patients and developing drugs using computer technology...since computers will eventually be able to map out a human body protein by protein.

I'll stay out of the gritty details...but this is where our world is headed. I hope America has enough genius left not wasted by public education to be able to take the lead in this scientific revolution.