Maybe it's because we made such a big deal of Y2K ten years ago that the advent of the second decade of the 21st century hasn't gotten as much discussion. As the OO's left us, the near collapse of the global financial system shook the world economy to its core.
With those events as its bookends, the decade just past was a pretty rough start. So as the "tweener" years begin, might it be time for world leaders - construed broadly -- to take stock, arrive at some consensus about the future, set some priorities and take steps to spark revitalization and renewal?
The current economic downturn has destroyed enormous amounts of capital and wealth, idled millions or workers, created a crisis of confidence in our financial markets and institutions and literally put entire nations on the brink of bankruptcy. As we begin the second decade of the 21st century, global business will never be the same.
What I'm proposing and organizing in the wake of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is an attempt to jump-start a new paradigm for growth and progress around the globe. This new event -- the New York Forum will bring together 500 business leaders, entrepreneurs, sovereign investment managers, regulatory officials and academics. Their mission? To discuss, dialogue and debate the direction that business ought to take at Y2K Plus 10.
Could such a meeting really work? In my experience, yes (by way of disclosure I have produced the World Economic Forum for the last 13 years and launched the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005). Those recent efforts - and others like the work of the Gates Foundation - underscore the power that convocations and commitment by world leaders can have. Global agendas can be established, universally accepted approaches can be adopted and huge problems can be eradicated.
The New York Forum would amplify the power of the concept in three ways:
The good news is that out of the current crisis, opportunity will inevitably emerge. Every sphere of the global economy -- manufacturing, energy, financial services, health care, media , technology, retail , real estate, travel and tourism -- needs to be reinvented for the young century. The pace of change in the 2000s will be exponentially more rapid than last century. Now, at what may be the nadir for the next 30 years, is the moment to gather the right players and determine how to revive the global economy, create new jobs, attack the scourge of unemployment and gain access to the necessary financing.
I am committed to mounting the New York Forum June 22-24, three-and-a-half months from now. There is no time to waste. All the relevant stakeholders face the same challenges, yearn to grow and prosper and prime the engine of commerce to improve people's lives. Ten years in to the new century, we know business will never be the same; if we act now we will have a good chance, at the end of this decade, to say business is not only different than it was but also better.
Ask these leaders collectively: Where's the plan? How can we all know whether it's working and what corrective actions kick in if it fails to meet milestones? Where's the humility of assuming that something could go wrong? Have you looked at your return on assets lately? They've dropped steadily since the 1960's. Doesn't that mean that you've been making really bad decisions? Why do you urge us to purchase goods that drain the nation's wealth, when it is purchasing services that allow us to pay one another, now that you've delivered the service economy? Why has health care overwhelmed us -- why can't you teach them to think like the most productive workforce in the world?
Some of us view recent decades as giving business everything it wanted -- enough rope to hang itself. So far, the response is that we must not have given enough. I don't buy it. We have a nation to run here. Any individual company or sector's fleeting success does not count for much if all other sectors are bashed, along with the employees who were expected to provide tomorrow's sales.
What is the objective? A redefinition of what is a rich and well-lived life, as long as most people have a decent chance of achieving it, would be fine. If you want a role in it, then act like it. We need some recognition that all of you and all of us are truly in this together.
If you wanted to go longer than a half hour for no-growth topics, you might include some of these issues:
The decline of the U.S. Empire- how to cushion the impact.
What business can do to encourage birth control throughout the world.
Policies needed to provide food security in a world of declining fresh water and increasing climate impacts.
Steps business can take to increase fair trade (as opposed to free trade) in order to narrow the gap between rich and poor countries.
How business can decentralize food production and encourage local farming in the world.
How business might reduce consumerism and the waste of limited resources.
Get my drift?
Can you do that at one of these meetings?
It is important that SOMEBODY amongst the elites begin to talk about this stuff if they don't want to be over-run or eaten by the poor.