In support of the conclusions and recommendations in the National Education Technology Plan (NETP), this article makes explicit the connections between the economic rationale used in the plan and the educational transformations it recommends. The article reviews macroeconomic research, microeconomic research, labor market and workforce studies, and studies showing patterns of the everyday information communication technology (ICT) use in American life to document the profound changes occurring in the American economy and society. It also reviews studies showing a gap between what is happening in American schools and the experiences and skills that our youth need to enter the information economy. The article concludes with an analysis of and an elaboration on the transformational recommendations made in the NETP, based on these reviews. (Contains 2 figures and 6 notes.)