In California, garages are being converetd into more or less permanent housing, while “temporary” restaurants (and other establishments) are popping up and disappearing at an astounding rate.

Meanwhile, the Dow once has again topped 11,000 in spite of scant good news in the jobs market. What’s going on?

Can today’s trends tell us much about tomorrow’s reality? It’s not just the economy: what can data points about life expectancy, personal income, costs of goods, rates of miniaturization of technology, and deforestation/reforestation tell us about the world we’ll soon be living in?