Against the Panglossian declarations of Third Wave theorists, who promise the empowerment as we all become telecommuting 'flexecutives' with virtual offices, a 'new class of migratory brain workers' with unchecked total quality entrepreneurial gusto, Meyer offers a sobering dose of reality.

The pundits call them "flexecutives" because, with the widespread use of faxes and computers in the '80s, they are flexible enough to live where they choose and remain hooked into the economic mainstream.