by Bixyl Shuftan on Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:58 am
"Two thousand tens" or "Twenty-teens" sounds like what it'll be called.
Quite a bit can happen in ten years. When the last decade appeared, we were a little jittery about Y2K, but also hopeful what the new century would bring. The decade turned out to be a bit more, interesting, than most of us expected.
My guesses. The economy will probably be rather flat for a while, held down by high oil prices and debt. Politics will probably be something of a mess with the voters going back and forth on the parties as they fail to deliver on promises. Space, for a time it's mostly private industry that makes the news, with Virgin Galactic giving wealthier travelers rides into low-Earth orbit. But a moon program by China will finally spur Congress to send a few more dollars to NASA, though budget troubles will make a large space program like the 1960's unlikely. In world politics, Iran may go from internal strife to a full revolution resulting in a more secular and neutral government. But Islamofacists elsewhere will continue to make trouble. China's rising economic power may result in it being a little pushy next decade, sending peacekeeping forces to some oil rich spots and putting the squeeze on Tiawan. Closer to home, some breakthrough developments in Alzheimers and cancer. And of course more fun gadgets as developers look for "the next big thing."