Jeremy Rifkin offers his vision of the coming ‘third industrial revolution’ for Assembly Series

According to international economic forecaster and social observer Jeremy Rifkin, the world witnessed the end of the modern era in July 2008, when geopolitical and socioeconomic forces sent the cost of oil soaring to $147 a barrel. Eighteen months later, there was a worldwide financial collapse.

How the world got to this critical point and how to take advantage of the opportunities on the horizon are the basic themes in Rifkin’s latest book, The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World. It also is the title of his address for the Assembly Series’ annual Elliot Stein Lecture in Ethics at noon Thursday, Oct. 11, in Graham Chapel on the Washington University Danforth Campus.

A book signing will precede the lecture, starting at 11:30 a.m., also in the chapel. 

The program is free and open to the public.

Rifkin is the visionary president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, a consultant to the European Union, and the author of 19 books that have explored the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society and the environment. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Many governments are in the process of enacting Rifkin’s new economic sustainability plan based on his latest book. Furthermore, 100 of the world's leading renewable energy-related companies have joined Rifkin's Third Industrial Revolution Global CEO Business Roundtable.

To TED Talk website fans, his August 2010 presentation, “The Empathic Civilization,” was judged one of the best talks of that year.

Rifkin graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School with a degree in economics, and, since 1994, he has lectured in Wharton’s executive education program. He also holds a degree in international affairs from Tufts University.