The X/Y factor

"Every client seems to want to have this foresight, this advance radar system where they understand where the next terrorist attack is coming from," says Marian Salzman, a trend specialist from the advertising firm JWT. Salzman is referring to "the terrorism of the consumer, the terrorism of the competitor, the land mine of change. All of those things feel like a terrorist attack if you're trying to protect a brand."

Generation grasp

Many of Buckingham's up-to-the-minute forecasts flow from her overarching view of the generations. The Xs, those in their 30s, are profoundly cynical, and the younger Ys, ages 14 to 28, are entitled and optimistic.

Standing at the podium at Trend School, Buckingham uses her infectiously cheery voice to nonetheless spin out a rather bleak psychological landscape for the 42 million American who qualify as Xs, the country's first generation of grown-up latchkey kids, who all had midlife crises at the ripe old age of 25.

One in 2 had parents who were divorced. One in 2 had both parents work. People had as "many different stepparents as CDs on the CD player." Xs matured into a world in decay, with holes in the ozone layer, lead in the water and the famous fried egg on TV showing "your brain on drugs." AIDS arrived just as they fumbled their way into sex. As consumers, Xers are "realistic and pessimistic, independent, commitment-phobic."

Consequently, because of X's undercurrent of depression, there have been huge increases in self-help books and interest in spirituality.

By contrast, Ys have a slightly annoying (at least to non-Ys) sense of their own greatness. They're the unintended byproduct of the enlightened parenting of the boomer set, kids who grew up in the "protect the children" era of car seats, when parents espoused the philosophy "you don't have to win, you just have to show up."

The coddling has led to some bizarre culture clashes in the workplace. Buckingham explains that Ys often show up and think, "What are you going to give me?" while their elder co-workers and bosses are wondering, "What is wrong with these people?" The college admissions people call them the "teacups" because they're so fragile. As consumers, they're "realistic and optimistic, individualistic but group-oriented." She details other trends affecting this age group, like the phenomenon of "permalancing," where everything, including jobs, homes and relationships, is viewed as a temporary way station until something better comes along, and a spongy moral code that differs sharply from that of their "peerents," their mothers and fathers who often act like their contemporaries.