The Road to Disaster?

The craftsmen and cottage industries of the 18th century evolved to the now familiar industrial society. After just over 1DO years, the world faces another iteration in an endless social transformation process. Will a post-industrial society, an information age, replace the product-based economic system? If the transition is to occur, when will it happen? What will be the effect on working populations when, inevitably, the mills stop and the furnaces cool? What are the consequences for individuals, nations, and societies of a system where fewer and fewer people produce more and more goods and services?