Biography

An internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends, Joel Kotkin is the author of a new book, THE NEXT HUNDRED MILLION: America in 2050, published in February by The Penguin Press. The book explores how the nation will evolve in the next four decades. It has received rave reviews from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Globe and Mail, and National Public Radio.

His previous, also critically acclaimed book, THE CITY: A GLOBAL HISTORY, was published in 2006 by Random House/Modern Library, with editions published in China, Spain, UK and the British Commonwealth, Japan and Korea.

Mr. Kotkin is Distinguished Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California and an Adjunct Fellow with the Legatum Institute based in London, UK. A highly respected speaker and futurist, he consults for many leading economic development organizations, private companies, regions and cities. Joel is also a Senior Fellow with the Center for an Urban Future in New York City; and a Senior Consultant with the Praxis Strategy Group in Fargo, North Dakota.

Described by the New York Times as America’s “uber-geographer,” for over three decades Mr. Kotkin has been one of the nation's most prolific and widely-published journalists. He currently writes the weekly “New Geographer” column for Forbes.com.

He previously wrote the monthly "Grass Roots Business" column in The New York Times' Sunday Business section and served as West Coast Editor for Inc. Magazine for five years and continues to contribute to the publication. His work also appears in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The American, The Daily Beast and the American.

He has also worked extensively in television, including on documentaries for both German television and Los Angeles public television. He served as Business Trends Analyst for KTTV/Fox Television in Los Angeles, where, in 1994, he won the Golden Mike Award for Best Business Reporting on the changing dynamics of the entertainment industry.

Mr. Kotkin is also the author of THE NEW GEOGRAPHY, How the Digital Revolution is Reshaping the American Landscape (Random House, 2000); and TRIBES: How Race, Religion and Identity Determine Success In the New Global Economy, (Random House, 1993) which traces the connection between ethnicity and business success — how in-group loyalties are becoming the driving force in the new global economy.

TRIBES has been published in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and German. He co-authored THE THIRD CENTURY — America’s Resurgence in the Asian Era, (Crown, 1988). This title was translated into Japanese and Chinese, with a special English edition published for the Pacific Rim. His first book, CALIFORNIA, INC. (Crown, 1982) dealt with California’s links to the emergent powers of the Pacific Rim. Kotkin's novel, THE VALLEY, was published in 1983 by Bantam Books.

Over the past decade, Mr. Kotkin has completed studies focusing on several major cities, including New York; St. Louis; Phoenix; Laval, Quebec’s second largest city; Los Angeles and Houston. In association with the Planning Center and the La Jolla Institute, in 2006 he completed a year-long study on the future of suburban development. His most recent published studies have focused on the economic revitalization for Salinas, California; the future of New York ’s middle class; an economic vision for the City of Ontario, California and a major study for the La Jolla Institute on the Four Corners region of Southern California. Last month he helped write a report with the Praxis Strategy Group called “Enterprising States” for the US National Chamber Foundation. His latest report, an international study on urban upward mobility for the Legatum Institute in London will be released in late May. It will focus on developments in London, Mumbai and Mexico City.

Mr. Kotkin lectures widely in the United States, UK, Asia, Australia and Europe and is sought after as a speaker by major business and financial organizations. In August, he will travel to Denver to accept the Gene Burd Award for best urban reporting.

Mr. Kotkin attended the University of California, Berkeley. A native New Yorker, he has lived in California since 1971. Mr. Kotkin lives in the Valley Village area of Los Angeles with his wife, Mandy Shamis, and two daughters.