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Ted C. Fishman is an award-winning journalist, cultural critic and bestselling author whose work explores the forces shaping our world: economics, demographics, the built environment and the human stories behind global change. His critically acclaimed books include China, Inc. and Shock of Gray, which have been translated into dozens of languages and featured in major media worldwide. His newest book on the material world of concrete is expected in 2027. As a public intellectual, Ted's interests and writings are wide-ranging—from theater criticism to future trends to business analysis. His work has appeared in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Fast Company, The Atlantic and more. Ted delivers sharp analysis and compelling narratives on business, society, and culture. This archive features his journalism, criticism, essays, book reviews, and media coverage spanning decades of reporting from every corner of the globe.
Sep 9, 20231 min read
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Midway to Java: The Forgotten Javanese Village in Chicago that Once Thrilled America
A panorama of the Midway at the World’s Columbian Exposition with the Java Village featured in the bottom left corner, 1893 Chicago. From Harper’s Weekly, May 1893. From NewCity From its dawn, Newcity has been a kind of world’s fair. I was on the cultural and culinary beats when the publication began, shortly after I moved back to Chicago after living in far-off alien places such as Japan and New York City. About a year before, I finished a happy two years in Indonesia where
Feb 8, 20211 min read
State and Local Governments Are Plunging Into Crisis
From The Atlantic State and local governments are being hit hard by the pandemic, and the consequences could be dangerous for democracy. The stakes couldn’t be higher. The loss of essential services hurts a community’s health, safety, and quality of life. It is also politically dangerous. Read more ...
May 21, 20201 min read
“The Shape of Water”
Can Chicago Survive Climate Change?
Apr 23, 20181 min read
Is China the Next World Superpower
From Chicago Ideas Week In this thought-provoking panel discussion, China experts present a framework for understanding China’s strengths and weaknesses, then examine if China has what it takes to lead the world through the lens of military, economic and cultural influence.
Oct 19, 20171 min read
Aging populations, Chinese urbanization and the dynamic potential of Indonesia
From Mike Walsh Ted C. Fishman is a global expert on populations, demographics and emerging markets. When we met up in Chicago, he slipped through the crowded hotel lobby to greet me, in a wonderful Indonesian batik shirt - like a covert character from a Graham Greene spy novel. Read more and listen ...
Aug 27, 20161 min read
Imperial Lamian’s Quest to Bring One of the World’s Great Cuisines to Chicago
Journey From Jakarta: Imperial Lamian’s Quest to Bring One of the World’s Great Cuisines to Chicago.
May 15, 20161 min read
The Scariest Threat You Didn’t Know About
Bomb Trains: The Scariest Threat You Didn’t Know About
Apr 25, 20161 min read
What Happened to Motorola
How a culture shift nearly doomed an iconic local company that once dominated the telecom industry. From Chicago magazine A big, silver-haired man wearing a dark suit, a Silicon Valley–style open-neck shirt, and a high-wattage smile steps up to the podium. Rick Osterloh has been the president and COO of Motorola Mobility for all of 10 days, the fourth man to run the place since its split from the mother ship. Read more ...
Aug 25, 20141 min read
Why These Kids Get a Free Ride to College
The high-school degrees come with the biggest present most of them will ever receive: free college.
Sep 1, 20121 min read
Is Indonesia Built to Last?
Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. “SBY,” presides over one of the world's fastest growing economies.
Feb 3, 20121 min read
It Gets Worse
From the New York Times Susan Jacoby has long made it her project to uncover ill-formed, cynical “junk thought” and administer a cold dose of reason and logic against it. Jacoby sees a new ageism that doesn’t just stigmatize old people for their years, but blames them for physical ills that no lifestyle adjustments or medicine can yet forestall. In particular, she believes that our dreams of active, vital old age block a clear vision of “old old” age, the highly vulnerable st
Feb 25, 20111 min read
Book review: ‘Shock of Gray’ by Ted C. Fishman
From the LA Times Not long ago, I spoke with Dr. David Reuben, a colleague who heads a top-ranked geriatrics program. After touching on current healthcare dilemmas, our conversation moved to the future. Specifically, how to cope as baby boomers sail past birthdays that their grandparents never dreamed of reaching. “What lies ahead when the age wave really hits?” I asked him. “You know, when every state looks like Florida?” “Another Hurricane Katrina,” he shot back. “But by th
Dec 23, 20101 min read
This Old World
New York Times Book Review I thought of my grandfather often as I read Ted C. Fishman’s “Shock of Gray,” because his circumstances illustrate one of the book’s central arguments: aging accelerates globalization. As science allows us to live longer and we choose to have fewer children, we will increasingly rely on the more affordable labor of foreigners. If Fishman’s point seems empirically obvious, the observations he makes about it are far-reaching and highly relevant to the
Nov 26, 20101 min read
As Populations Age, a Chance for Younger Nations
From the New York Times YOU MAY KNOW that the world’s population is aging — that the number of older people is expanding faster than the number of young — but you probably don’t realize how fast this is happening. Right now, the world is evenly divided between those under 28 and those over 28. By midcentury, the median age will have risen to 40. Demographers also use another measure, in addition to median age, to determine whether populations are aging: “elder share.” If the
Oct 14, 20101 min read
A richly engaging work of penetrating, up-to-the-minute reportage and brilliant analysis that will forever change how readers think about America’s future.
A richly engaging work of penetrating, up-to-the-minute reportage and brilliant analysis that will forever change how readers think about America’s future.
Dec 1, 20051 min read
Car Clones and Other Tales of the Mighty Economic Engine Known as China
'China Inc.' 'How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World' By Ted C. Fishman 342 pages. Scribner. $26. From the New York Times Book Review If the 20th was the American century, then the 21st belongs to China. It's that simple, Ted C. Fishman says, and anyone who doubts it should take his whirlwind tour of the world's fastest-developing economy. The numbers are staggering. From 1982 through 2002, the United States economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3
Feb 15, 20051 min read
A thought-provoking and accessible forecast of strange times to come
A thought-provoking and accessible forecast of strange times to come
Feb 1, 20051 min read
The Chinese Century
From the New York Times Magazine China used to be far away, the country at the bottom of the world. Certainly that must be how it seemed just 20 years ago in a place like Pekin, Ill., a city of 34,000 residents on the Illinois River that took its name from the Chinese capital in the 1820's. According to local legend, Pekin is directly opposite Beijing on the globe. The high-school teams there were still called the Chinks until 1981, when they were renamed the Dragons. A smart
Jul 4, 20041 min read
The joys of global investment
Shipping home the fruits of misery From Harper's Magazine Available as PDF
Feb 1, 19971 min read
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