FORTUNE magazine contents page DECEMBER 30, 1991 VOL. 124, NO. 15
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(FORTUNE Magazine) – SPECIAL REPORT/COVER STORY 24 WHAT I WANT U.S. BUSINESS TO DO IN '92 With the American economy convalescing and the world order in stunning metamorphosis, the globe's largest business sector senses an urgent need to change. So Fortune asked influential leaders in commerce, politics, religion, and academia, as well as workers, consultants, writers, and others, what they want U.S. business to do in the coming year. Their wide-ranging answers will intrigue, enrage, and surprise you -- from General Electric CEO Jack Welch's thoughts on provoking ideas to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's call for togetherness and fellowship.

POLITICS & POLICY 61 CUOMO'S FIXES FOR THE ECONOMY He has a lot of them. Here's what the New York governor told Fortune in Albany about what ails the nation and how to remedy it, from an investment-led recovery to controlling growth in health costs and entitlements. by Ann Reilly Dowd

INVESTING 74 INVESTING FOR HARD TIMES The Eighties were richly rewarding. The Nineties are proving to be tougher. You can still succeed, but it is going to take some smart moves as the markets in stocks and bonds come back down to Earth. by Terence P. Pare

80 A FUND FAMILY FOR THE 1990s In an era of diminished expectations, the iconoclastic CEO of the Vanguard mutual fund organization is offering his products at a fraction of the normal charge. Investors are signing on. Competitors are growing nervous. by Andrew Evan Serwer

90 AMERICA'S BEST MUTUAL FUNDS After sales loads, expenses, and taxes, which stock and bond funds put the most money in your pocket? Here are the standout performers in 13 categories. by Susan E. Kuhn

TRADE 95 WHY JAPAN'S SURPLUS IS RISING Its exporters keep pouring out products, while its imports have gone flat. Unless Tokyo brings down the excess, world trade could be hit by a new outbreak of protectionism. by Lee Smith

TECHNOLOGY 98 SAVING TIME WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY Armed with laptops, palmtops, and cellular phones, executives on the go run their businesses from wherever they happen to be, and find they are a lot more productive. by Gene Bylinsky

104 HOW DO YOU LEARN ALL THAT STUFF? Mastering new software and telecommunications devices when you don't have your own outside expert -- and your kids aren't home to help you.

MANUFACTURING 106 AMERICAN COMPANIES COME BACK HOME Tired of hearing about corporations that are giving up on the U.S. as a place to make things? Some have returned, and here's why they're glad they did. by Edmund Faltermayer

MANAGING 115 A U.S.-STYLE SHAKEUP AT HONDA CEO Kawamoto has abandoned consensus management for American-looking organization charts. Result: Communications and decision-making are getting faster. by Alex Taylor III

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE 121 COMPANIES TO WATCH Lasers from Sunrise Technologies of California are on the cutting edge in dentistry -- and appeal to ophthalmologists and other medical specialists as well. by Shelley Neumeier

Also: Bertucci's and Micrografx.

CANADA 122 WHY CANADA CAN'T GET MOVING AGAIN Not long ago its growth was second only to Japan's. Now businesses are fleeing to the U.S. and the economy is stuck. One reason: the rising threat of secession by Quebec. by Louis Kraar

DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR'S DESK 6 INDEX 8 NEWS/TRENDS The Christmas Grinch loses ground, auto showroom gridlock, corporate Boot Hill makes room for one more, wimping out on bank reform, IBM's Akers turns revolutionary, how inflation will devour your 1992 raise, why this recession is different, the Eurocondom, and more.

15 FORTUNE FORECAST While the U.S. recession may well have ended last spring, most Americans see no sign of the beginnings of any real life in the economy. The downbeat mood itself is contributing to the fragility of the nascent expansion. by Vivian Brownstein

19 LETTERS TO FORTUNE

136 BOOKS & IDEAS What to buy for Christmas: Tell Santa to keep those chip-encrusted entertainment devices in his sack and give you a good book instead. Here's a sampling. by Gil Schwartz

139 KEEPING UP The necessity of obloquy (or bankrupts on the march), nausea in Boston, how to get slugged in New York, and other matters. by Daniel Seligman

ABOVE: Four whose ideas we gleaned -- Hills (photo by Linda Creighton), Gault $ (John Abbott), Tanii (Caroline Parsons), and Sculley (Doug Menuez -- Reportage).

COVER: Gates (Ed Kashi), Iacocca (Michael O'Neill), Welch (Peter Gregoire), Bush (J.L. Atlan -- Sygma), Tutu (Brad Markel -- Gamma/Liaison)