In the past two decades, output per capita has doubled in real terms. China, the world's most populous nation, saw its output per capita quintuple, the largest such increase in the history of the world. In The Twilight of Sovereignty , former Citicorp CEO Walter Wriston laid out a thesis that information frees us and is an unstoppable force. When an ingot of iron is divided, those who have it possess only a piece of it. Iron is a zero-sum game.
Information is a positive-sum game.
The Web is transforming industries and lives by giving broad access to information that was once in the hands of a few. Fueled by steady advances in computer technology and greater bandwidth, business on the Internet is growing at a breathtaking pace. Annual global energy usage is 375 exajoules and grows 1.5 percent per year. Asia is now the world's largest energy producer and consumer. With the greatest population and the highest economic growth rate, it will be so forever more.