*Longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award*

*Financial Times Book of the Month*

The full-time job is disappearing. Today more workers than ever are going freelance – driving for Uber or cycling for Deliveroo, developing software or consulting for investment banks. Welcome to the gig economy.

In Gigged, Sarah Kessler meets the people forging this new world of unorthodox employment: from the computer programmer who chooses exactly which hours he works each week, via the Uber driver who is trying to convince his peers to unionise, to the charity worker who thinks freelance gigs might just transform the fortunes of a declining rural town.

Their stories raise crucial questions about the future of work. What happens when job security, holidays and benefits become a thing of the past? How can freelancers find meaningful, well-paid employment? And could the gig economy really change the world of work for ever?

Developing Asia is forecast to expand by 5.9% in 2017 and 5.8% in 2018, a slight upgrade from projections in Asian Development Outlook 2017. Growth prospects for developing Asia are looking up, bolstered by a revival in world trade and strong momentum in the People's Republic of China. Rebounds in international food and fuel prices are gentler than expected, helping to contain consumer price pressures. Inflation is likely to dip to 2.4% in 2017, or 0.1 percentage points off the 2016 rate, and pick up to 2.9% in 2018. Risks to the outlook have become more balanced, as the advanced economies have so far avoided sharp, unexpected changes to their macroeconomic policies. Further, the fuel price rise is providing fiscal relief to oil exporters but is measured enough not to destabilize oil importers.

The US marijuana market generated a total revenue of $1.6B in 2013, an estimated increase of 33% over 2012, exceeding industry estimates by more than $100M. The marijuana market is less than 2% of the US tobacco market, a $153.5B market that has no medicinal value, and less than 1% of the alcohol market, which valued at $197.8B in 2012. This market analysis provides information useful to investors, existing business owners, entrepreneurs, and law makers involved in the marijuana market.

Although all advanced industrial societies have urban and regional developmentpolicies, such policy in the United States historically has taken on a very distinct form. Compared with the more top-down, centrally orchestrated approaches of Western European countries, US cities and, to a lesser degree, states, take the lead, spurred on by developers and those with interest in rent. This bottom-up policy creates conflict as one city battles with another for new investments and as real estate developers fight over the spoils, resulting in highly contentious politics. In The Politics of Urban and Regional Development and the American Exception, Cox addresses the question of why US policy is so unique. In doing so, he illustrates the essential characteristics of American regional development through a series of case studies including housing politics in Silicon Valley; the history of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport; and a major redevelopment project that was rebuffed in Columbus, Ohio. Cox contrasts these examples with Western Europe's tradition of centralized governmental involvement and stronger labor movements that historically have been more concerned with creating what he calls "the good geography" than profits for developers, whatever the shortfalls in policy outcomes might be. The differences illuminate the peculiar nature of political engagement and local competition in shaping the way US urban development has evolved.

What will South Africa look like in 2030? And how will the next fifteen years unfold?

Since leading scenario planner Frans Cronje published his bestseller A Time Traveller’s Guide to Our Next Ten Years, the country has changed rapidly. Political tensions have increased, economic performance has weakened and more and more South Africans are taking their frustrations to the street. What does this mean for the country’s future?

Cronje presents the most likely scenarios for South Africa’s future.

Hoe gaan Suid-Afrika in 2030 lyk? En hoe gaan die volgende 15 jaar ontvou?

Sedert die bekende scenariobeplanner Frans Cronje se blitsverkoper, A Time Traveller’s Guide to Our Next Ten Years, het die land dramaties verander. Politieke spanning het verhoog, die ekonomie het in die hek geduik en al meer Suid-Afrikaners wend hulle uit frustrasie straat toe.

Wat beteken dit vir die land se toekoms? Gaan die vonk in die kruitvat vlamvat of gaan ’n reenboog sy onverwagse verskyning maak?