(FORTUNE Magazine) – 1990s SURVIVAL GUIDE/COVER STORIES 40 PREPARING FOR LEANER TIMES Expectations are lower and anxiety is higher as everybody worries about his job. Maybe it's time to play down money, and emphasize values instead. by Brian O'Reilly

50 WHERE MANAGERS WILL GO The great management sweep-out won't stop anytime soon, forcing millions to rethink careers. The most successful are finding new niches born of change. by John Huey

56 THE BABY-BOOMERS' LATEST WHINE On finding that all the rules have changed.

64 WHAT OUR KIDS MUST LEARN Educationally, we demand too little, even of our brightest children. Here are ten kinds of knowledge they've got to have to compete in a tougher world. by Kenneth Labich

68 INVESTING FOR A NEW FUTURE The 1990s are casting a chill over financial plans. Looking at real estate, stocks, and bonds, you must be bold. by Brian Dumaine

75 THE VALUES WE WILL NEED By itself, our vaunted individualism won't get us through the decade ahead. But how do we achieve a renewed commitment to the community? by Brenton R. Schlender

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE 80 HUGHES AIRCRAFT: A MASTER OF THE MEGILLAH Its software engineers have become adept at wrestling with some of the most elaborate systems around. This company's tips on managing complexity are valuable. by Thomas A. Stewart

81 MONSANTO: LEARNING FROM ITS MISTAKES? Its new formula for converting laboratory discoveries into marketplace successes: Focus spending on a few promising projects and team up at the outset with customers. by Ronald Henkoff

84 ELIZABETH ARDEN: PROFITING BY PERSEVERANCE Despite being passed from hand to hand, it stuck to its overhaul plan to become the fastest-growing prestige (read expensive) cosmetics company in America. by Faye Rice

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE 87 COMPANIES TO WATCH

POLITICS & POLICY 88 WHAT THE LEADING DEMOCRATS WANT On the No. 1 issue -- the U.S. economy -- the candidates' prescriptions differ in important ways. They tell us their plans for taxes, spending, and the trade deficit. by Ann Reilly Dowd

INVESTING 92 THE BEST & WORST STOCKS OF 1991 It was a surprisingly good year, given the economy's woes. Top honors go to small stocks, which launched a major bull market. by Karen Nickel

96 A HOT YEAR FOR WORLD MARKETS

TECHNOLOGY 99 TECHNOLOGY TO WATCH

THE ECONOMY 100 VICTIMS OF THE CREDIT CRUNCH Lending officers are scared. Banks are passing the word: Don't come to us for a loan. Here's how borrowers are coping -- and how the squeeze saps the recovery's strength. by Gary Hector

MONEY & MARKETS 104 DEALS OF THE YEAR Equity comes back: Leverage-laden issuers wanted to pay down debt just as stock-starved investors were wearying of puny T-bill returns. Fortune lists the top deals of 1991. by Anne B. Fisher

DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR'S DESK 8 INDEX 12 NEWS/TRENDS Navigating computer industry alliances, the return of the G-thing, the recession thaws at ski resorts, more benefit cuts loom, car cards -- a varooming collectible, Soviet cops nab grave robbers, and more.

21 FORTUNE FORECAST Where are business prospects best in the U.S.? Almost anywhere outside the Northeast, which will continue to lose workers and companies to the benefit of the South and the West. Fortune's economists analyze the outlook for seven major regions. by Joseph Spiers

Economic Intelligence: An expert contends the slump is over, and why economists miss the mark.

27 PERSONAL INVESTING After the Dow's startling rally, which stocks look most promising now? by Andrew Evan Serwer

Also: Portfolio Talk with John Dale of Peregrine Capital Management.

35 LETTERS TO FORTUNE

113 BOOKS & IDEAS Four of the year's best management books, while not exactly breakthrough treatises, should help you look ahead, perfect alliances -- and please customers. by Brian Dumaine

115 KEEPING UP The mentionables, pirates with cellular phones, and other matters. by Daniel Seligman

ABOVE: Robb Kendrick (Contact) photographed this roundtable of ''outplacement'' clients, held weekly by Drake Beam Morin in Dallas.

COVER: Tom Dietrich (AllStock) caught the brooding temper of the coming decade on this road north of Cheyenne, Wyoming.