Cheat Sheet

Worthwhile Insight: "The most important form of capital is human capital; people are beginning to see themselves as assets. The social rules governing wealth that worked in the stable, physical world, are creaking."

Favorite Five-Dollar Word: "The old ways no longer hold. New ones tumble in. It is a liminal moment" [Liminal: of or at the 'limen,' or threshold; of the first stage].

Most Valuable Slogans: "Speed: Constant change is healthier than stability. Connectivity: Open systems thrive, closed ones wither. Intangibles: The virtual trumps the physical."

Is This Your Next High-Paid Job?: "Now that lots of companies have bought into the idea of hiring a chief knowledge officer (CKO), it's time for another new position -- what Davis and Meyer call the chief risk officer
(CRO): "The CRO manages and trades a corporation's business and financial risks and educates employees on managing risk."

Richest Cocktail-Party Sound Bite: "The source of financial wealth is shifting from money that you work for toward money that works for you."

Rich Land, Poor Land: "Africa, with 13 percent of the world's population, has just 1 percent of the world's Internet users. The gap in access to capital is now about access to intellectual capital."

FC Recommends

Big Idea: "The Age of Access: The New Culture of Hypercapitalism Where All of Life Is a Paid-For Experience," by Jeremy Rifkin (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, $24.95). A topflight provocateur who has challenged biotech and globalization, Rifkin now sets his sights on the idea economy.

Best Practice: "Clicks and Mortar: Passion Driven Growth in an Internet Driven World," by David S. Pottruck and Terry Pearce (Jossey-Bass, $26). Pottruck, the president and co-CEO of Charles Schwab, has to be one of the smartest business leaders in the United States. This book shows that he keeps getting smarter.

Sleeper: "Squandering Aimlessly: My Adventures in the American Marketplace," by David Brancaccio (Simon & Schuster, $25) . The host of "Marketplace" (a public-radio business show) explores people's attitudes about making money and creating meaning.

Keeper: "Butterfly Economics: A New General Theory of Social and Economic Behavior," by Paul Ormerod (Pantheon Books, $24). If economics is the "dismal science," then why does the world economy remain so exuberant? Answers from the head of the Economic Assessment Unit at the "Economist."