They say the world’s financial markets send a trillion dollars around the globe every day, a statement so loaded with the realities of life at the end of the 20th century that it would almost defy explanation to someone living at the century’s beginning. Financial markets? Dollars? A trillion? 1999 finds us living among numbers – both big and small – in an ever-shrinking world.

The ways of late 20th century business bear little resemblance to those of 1900. Satellites and television have drawn us together under a network of instant information, global brands, and event entertainment, while highways and automobiles have made life more convenient.

The achievements of labor unions and the women’s movement, have changed the nature of work. And advocates of consumer rights and the environment spurred the ebb and flow of government regulation.

We have more money now – as well as the choice to pay later. And we manage our own finances in ways that would shock the Depression generation.

Computers and other small electronics, not to mention the Internet, have made the ownership of ideas and data as valuable as the proverbial "means of production."

The turn of the century marks not only an end, but a beginning as well. As you consider the changes that have taken place in the 20th century, give us your thoughts on how the ways we do business will change in the next hundred years.