NoviaSalcedo Foundation's point of view
Bilbao December 2009 Reimagining the world after the crisis
II POSITION PAPER
REIMAGINING THE WORLD AFTER THE CRISIS: NSF's point of view
! INDEX
0. INTRODUCTION 1. THE CRISIS AND ITS CAUSES 2. STRATEGIES FOR A SOLUTION 3. NSF´S POINT OF VIEW
!
1
REIMAGINING THE WORLD AFTER THE CRISIS: NSF's point of view
0. INTRODUCTION Novia Salcedo Foundation (NSF) is following the world crisis with intense concern. The organisation was itself born 30 years ago in a time of industrial collapse in our country, to the causes and consequences of which it tried to provide solutions. We note that the consequences of today's crisis are falling with particular severity on the young, for whom we feel a special responsibility. In response, NSF intends to put forward its own forward-looking solutions based on our "XXI Century Trendwatch System". This System harvests the points of view and perspectives of other institutions and sources of recognised prestige, with which we share culture, values and commitments, as well as a vocation to create a better world. This current position paper is advance guard for the NSF Report to be published in 2010. It outlines the broad thrusts of that upcoming report and tries to bring some light to young people as they face up to a future in need of change.
1.THE CRISIS AND ITS CAUSES We are living through the first great crisis of the era of globalisation confronting enormous financial, economic, social and political challenges. But the economic cycle born of this crisis creates challenges for individuals too, demanding new ways of living. Stock and property values have crashed, engulfing the important middle class. But such speculative crises are not new. John Kenneth Galbraith, the American economist, reminds us that the first such speculative bubble was in the Tulip Craze as far back as the 17th century. What is new is that this is a global crisis, sparked by speculative volatility in the financial markets. This volatility reflects inadequacies in the regulatory, insitutional and ethical systems 1 . The collapse of the last two years follows in the wake of decades of significant growth, accompanied by huge disparities in wealth and continuing poverty for many. The collapse is the outcome of a whole financial culture understanding the world, then acting in it in an ultimately unsustainable fashion.
2. STRATEGIES FOR A SOLUTION Are there any? Galbraith has said that lighting on such strategies is more a matter for astrologists than economists. Worse, the well-known Professor of Thought at the London School of Economics, John Gray, says that there are no such solutions, that
1
!
Galbraith, John Kenneth. Breve historia de la euforia financiera (Ariel, 1993)
2
REIMAGINING THE WORLD AFTER THE CRISIS: NSF's point of view
here can be no immediate reforms and nonetheless, the future is very dark.2 We do not entirely agree with these two eminent pessimists. Proposals have been put forward by many different authorities and can be grouped as follows:
Market Reforms Leaders of the G-20, which represents 85% of the world economy and 2/3rds of the population, concur that such measures must be coordinated. The United States alone does not have the weight to drive the world forward to growth.
Structural Reforms The EU document “Shared Commitment In Favour Of Employment” sees the crisis as an opportunity to change to a more productive, innovative, better qualified economy, and one that emits less carbon. Labour markets will be more open and inclusive, society will be more cohesive and egalitarian. There will be less age and gender discrimination and private and work life will be balanced better.
Support for young people Particularly those trying to break into the labour market for the first time. There must also be programs of accelerated learning to advance professional careers. To this end, a high quality learning program for 5 million young Europeans will run till the end of 2010. Early school leaving must be reduced. And opportunities for training or work must be offered within a month to all unemployed young people between 15 and 19. Such a task is not easy in Spain. A recent OCDE report made it clear that we have one of the highest levels of youth inactivity in Europe: 14% of our young people between the ages of 16 and 24 neither work nor study. The key is to be forward-looking and offer training in those areas and skills that will be in demand in the labour market in the future.
Financial Support for work training To avoid the risk of a “lost generation” 3, Ángel Gurría, Secretary General of the OCDE, recommends helping the long term unemployed, increasing funds earmarked for new types of skill - particularly in so-called green collar jobs - and strengthening the welfare safety net so that those without employment don't fall into poverty.
Flexisecurity The labour market needs to be modernised to allow wage-earners to reman employable in all circumstances and not to be abandoned in phases between jobs.
2
!
3
Gray, John. “Falso amanecer: los engaños del capitalismo global”. (Paidós, 2000)
“La crisis elevará el paro al 20% en España, la mayor tasa de la OCDE”. El País. (17/09/2009).
3
REIMAGINING THE WORLD AFTER THE CRISIS: NSF's point of view
3.NSF´S POINT OF VIEW “Tomorrow is too late, we must do something today…. Because the problems that are confronting Humanity are too great, urgent and profound " 4
Our Overall Vision
• • • • •
In this crisis point of drastic changes, great opportunities arise that must be seized. The current crisis is the tip of an iceberg: implying a total change in the course of our world if disaster is to be avoided. We are all implicated in a Herculean task to accompany the world towards a new era and rebirth. We need to build a new type of person, a new way of living together, a new way of looking at the world. The path is that of permanent education based on values that favour sound relationships. The following must not be forgotten: you are only a whole person when you are in relationship with others.
Vision for Young People NSF wants to shift the focus to young people, in particular, their difficulties in entering the labour market in a world in constant change. Overcoming this challenge is vital to their development as individuals and citizens. Moreover, they will be the drivers of the economy in the future, depending upon decisions made today. We will now highlight the points we consider most important: 1.
Ensure the problem of youth employment takes its rightful place amongst those considered to be most pressing.
2.
Start off with sound analysis to ensure an accurate measurement of the scale of the problem. Our first challenge is to find and make use of indicators that are sufficiently reliable and precise.
3.
We must overcome the tendency for socio-economic players to act and think in isolation. Today more than ever, team work, communication, leadership etc are necessary.
4
!
Peccei, Aurelio. Primer Presidente del Club de Roma.
4
REIMAGINING THE WORLD AFTER THE CRISIS: NSF's point of view
4.
NSF proposes to network with its interest groups to construct a labour market fit for all. In the face of such complex problems, we cannot expect or rely on individual agents to come up with solutions on their own.
5.
We must monitor, evaluate and check work in progress to keep it relevant to the evolving economic reality and problems.
6.
Macro-policy and micro-policy must dovetail. We must communicate our local reality to Europe so that bottom-up meets top-down.
7.
We must make sure that the initial capabilities of young people meet those demanded by employers, especially with reference to behaviour and values, to speed systematically the growth of the individuals concerned.
8.
Encourage new rules of the game within institutions and companies to correct errors in relationships. This by means of attention to corporate and social responsibility and the quest for total excellence in management.
9.
Training can be enriched with programs focusing on values and behaviour, which teach people the fundamentals for successfully applying the new rules of the game.
10. Institutions and companies must become active schools for permanent training so that the new values and behaviour are interiorised and applied to the betterment of social and family relationships. 11. Develop values that promote innovation: the value of knowledge (key resource), the value of cooperation (work method), the value of change (necessary attitude) and the value of globalisation (the context for action). 12. Pay specific attention to careers in the social sciences and the humanities. This is fundamental for preserving our social heritage, knowledge, values and the understanding of social change which acts as a lubricant in human relations. 13. Promote an integrated system of guidance for individuals throughout their life/ professional life. 14. Draw up personalised permanent learning plans. 15. Promote intra-entrepreneurship to create new business units that will offer more and better employment and pick up the baton from current activities within firms. 16. Place the emphasis on those sectors that are marked out for growth and strategic importance in the future, sectors driven by the idea of sustainability and the creation of economic and social wealth. For example, bio-technology, nanotechnology, alternative energy, electronics for intelligent transport, eco-innovation, sustainable construction techniques, ICTs, advanced systems of mass mobility and transport, health and digitalised medicine, technologies creating quality of life for old people.
!
5