Frequently Asked Questions
About the Book
What is the book's full title?
The New Face of the World Economy for Our Next Generation: Unchallenged Individual Prosperity in the Declining West Amid the Rise of the Global South — The Resilient Western Legacy: The Story of 197 Countries Under the New World Order in the Year 2100. Author: Kyu Hwang. Copyright © 2025.
What is the book arguing?
It is making an empirical argument, not a political one. The argument is that the combination of demographic weight and compounding economic growth, applied consistently over eight decades, produces a world in which China, India, and the Global South account for the substantial majority of world output by 2100. Western economies remain prosperous in per capita terms but represent a shrinking share of the global total. By the mid-2050s, when the US adopted a policy of reduced global engagement, the economic weight of non-Western nations had already surpassed that of the West. The book traces how that happened and where it leads.
Is this a book of predictions or projections?
Projections. A projection is a conditional statement: if demographic trends, institutional quality, and technology adoption follow these trajectories, these are the likely outcomes. The book does not claim to know the future. It makes its assumptions explicit and invites readers to alter them. The sensitivity tables in Part II show how the outputs change when the inputs change.
Do I need an economics background to read it?
No. The Preface and the country analyses in Part I are written for a general reader. Technical methodology is concentrated in dedicated chapters that readers without a quantitative background can skip without losing the main argument. Readers who are comfortable with data tables and basic growth arithmetic will get the most from Parts II and III.
Why does the book cover 197 countries?
Because the global economic story is not told by the ten largest economies alone. The demographic and institutional trajectories of Niger, Paraguay, or Bhutan have their own weight in the global picture — and in the case of sub-Saharan Africa as a region, aggregating these countries into a single number loses precisely the information that matters most. Every sovereign nation is covered individually.
The Data
Where does the underlying data come from?
The primary sources are the World Bank World Development Indicators, the UN World Population Prospects (2022 revision), the Penn World Table 10.0, the IMF World Economic Outlook, WIPO IP Statistics, the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, IRENA Renewable Energy Statistics, and FAO FAOSTAT agricultural data. Each source is cited at the point of use.
Can I access the full dataset?
Yes. The complete dataset — covering all 197 countries and all variables used in the book, corresponding to Chapters 11–18 — is available via the QR code on the Data & Research page. The data is in spreadsheet format: one sheet per variable, countries as rows, years as columns, with a separate sheet for projection assumptions.
What growth rates does the book project for advanced economies?
Most advanced economies grow at under 1.5% annually in the latter half of the 21st century. The combined pressure of the climate crisis and ageing populations would produce sub-1% growth without the productivity gains from extensive AGI adoption. Singapore projects at 1.19% annually (2051–2100), the UAE at 1.03%, the Netherlands at 1.24%, and Ireland at approximately 1.56% in the earlier decades of the period.
What does the book project for Western economies' share of world GDP by 2100?
23.7%. Western civilization’s population share is projected at 10.6%. When the non-White populations within those countries are accounted for, the White demographic comprises less than 7% of the global population by 2100. These are structural outcomes of demographic trajectories already in motion, not projections that require optimistic assumptions about the Global South.
Has any data been corrected since the book was published?
Corrections, when identified, are noted on the Blog page and the online dataset is updated accordingly. If you believe you have found an error, please use the Contact page and describe it as precisely as possible — including the specific table, page reference, and the source you believe is more accurate.
Ordering and Availability
Where can I buy the book?
The book is available in paperback and ebook format. Use the Order Now button on the About the Book page.
What is the price?
$10.99 for the paperback (regular price $16.99). Ebook pricing varies by platform.
Is there a bulk or institutional pricing option?
For orders of ten or more copies or institutional licensing enquiries, please contact the author via the Contact page.
Can I cite data from the book in academic or professional work?
Yes. The suggested citation is: Hwang, K. (2025). The New Face of the World Economy for Our Next Generation. Please attribute data tables by chapter and table number where possible. For permission to reproduce large sections of the data tables in published work, please use the Contact page.