cover image Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century

Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century

Alvin Toffler. Bantam Books, $22.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-553-05776-8

Knowledge, not violence nor money, is the essence of power in the information age, claims Toffler ( Future Shock ) as he observes ``info-wars'' raging in such arenas as computers, high-definition TV, electronic networks, and industrial espionage, and the fight for control of customer data by retailers, manufacturers, banks and credit-card issuers. He hails the emerging ``flex-firm,'' a company open to many types of free-form ``counterbureaucratic'' organization. Toffler credits junk-bond salesman Michael Milken with making finance more competitive and less monopolistic. Assessing the ``power triad'' of the U.S./Japan/Western Europe, he deems European nations the least stable link, with Germany gaining ascendancy. He looks warily at ``Global Gladiators''--drug cartels, Khomeini, multinationals, the Pope--who challenge the boundaries of the nation-state. Toffler's inflated, slogan-slinging probe entertains as it serves up bytes of information and insight, some provocative, some facile. (Oct.)