Our cover story on the information revolution begins where most news stories end--by describing the technological advances we might witness in the near future and speculating about the social and economic changes that could spread around the world as a result. But that is only the beginning. Beyond these technological, social, and economic changes, the information revolution also begets the need for new institutions of governance capable of coordinating global networks of individuals and organizations. Three existing types of institutions could serve as useful models for building a global civil society. Even more intriguing, the information revolution is fostering the evolution of a global "realm of the mind," according to some RAND researchers. In this new realm, power will stem from influential ideas as much as from material resources. The implications are especially profound for America and its efforts to craft an information strategy.
Our story on youth violence differs from news accounts that portray schoolyard killings either as a failure of the criminal justice system, a result of inadequate gun controls, or a symptom of cultural decay. The story here diagnoses youth violence, instead, as a matter of public health. Under this interpretation, youth violence is a "contagion" that can spread among susceptible adolescents under certain conditions. The researchers attempt to identify the most likely susceptibilities and the most dangerous conditions--in the hopes of mitigating both. The intent is not to discredit the efforts of law enforcement, gun controls, or cultural crusades. Rather, the ultimate aim is to prescribe additional remedies for youth violence, especially remedies that can be targeted to the specific ailments of different kinds of violent youth.
Our story on electricity deregulation challenges a common assumption about last summer's failure of deregulation in California, the first state where deregulation took effect. Some observers blame the California crisis on a lack of surge capacity--or inadequate supplies of electricity to meet the summertime peaks in demand. In that view, the solution is pretty straightforward: Amass larger supplies of standby generating capacity. Unfortunately, the problem is more complex. Utility companies suffer also from some underlying inefficiencies, which are often the legacies of previous ways of operating in a regulated environment. The trick is to reduce those inefficiencies in ways that will not compromise the ability of utility companies to provide their customers with reliable electricity. Richard Hillestad outlines some steps that companies can take to resolve this problem.
--John Godges