Princess Diana started in the British royal family as a gawky adolescent and ended as a global icon of chic and independence, changing from a symbol of the old order to become a celebrated brand name in the "new economy".
To look at another example of how the economic world has changed in recent years, Britain now earns more from music exports than it does from steel.
As we get to grips with the new post-industrial "knowledge economy" we need to ask ourselves how it can be shaped to benefit all. The "old economy" provided the masses with tangible benefits in housing, transport, health and education. But the benefits of the "new economy" are less tangible. There is a lot of insecurity - especially outside the booming (for now) Irish economy.
For example, old reliables such as high street banks find themselves battling telephone/Internet competitors and mega corporate mergers result in widespread job losses. We need something more real than e-mail addresses.
Coming to terms with the disruptive consequences of our capacity for change is the central question facing modern politics, says former Financial Times correspondent Charles Leadbeater.
Nowadays we are scientific and technological revolutionaries, he points out, but political and institutional conservatives.
We throw away a lot of our most precious raw material in the knowledge economy - brain power - by tolerating bad education, poverty, unemployment and family breakdown. This is the same as the Victorians dumping millions of tonnes of coal at sea, or Henry Ford abandoning machinery to rust in the rain. We may as well try to fight a modern war with cavalry, says Leadbeater, who is trying to chart a way between out-dated socialism and the free market thinking so popular in the 1980s. He argues the goal of politics in the 21st century should be to create societies which maximise knowledge, the engine of growth. Living On Thin Air is a lively contribution to the debate about where the world economy is going and offers some interesting ideas on how the Internet could make a revolutionary impact. For example, Leadbeater argues that British universities and the BBC should come together to create the biggest virtual university and library in the world and give its resources free to the 20 poorest countries. He argues that creative societies have to be open and cosmopolitan. Millions rely on Marconi's invention of radio message transmission for news, entertainment and education and Leadbeater ends his blueprint for the new economy with a relevant point for the Republic as we contemplate housing immigrants in "flotels". "This year a young person, perhaps like Marconi an immigrant, will be working on an idea which he hopes could shape the century ahead, expanding the horizons and life chances of millions around the globe. We must not stand in his way."
jmulqueen@irish-times.ie
