Who is he?

Rifkin is a fellow of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce and president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington DC. An established social critic, his best-known books predict the negative impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, society and environment. Rifkin was one of the first to warn of GM food’s dangers.

How did he get here?

Rifkin has published 15 books and gives about 75 speeches a year. His gloomy predictions have earned him some notoriety, particularly in his native US.

What he’s written.

The End of Work (1995), The Biotech Century (1998), The Age of Access (2000).

What they say about him.

‘Rifkin is our Jeremiah, possibly our Cassandra. He’s unique, iconoclastic, insightful, angry, dogged and, in the end, hopeful and romantic. We’d be poorer without him.’ – Los Angeles Times.

Soundbite.

‘Think of waking up one day only to find out that every aspect of your being has become a purchased affair, that your life itself has become the ultimate shopping experience.’

What’s next?

Having predicted the end of anything as we know it, expect him to move on to the end of cultural diversity.