Double dip, recession, financial crisis, European debt, Greece, Italy, France, US political deadlock, China's inflation, monetary policy, it's all jargon that means little to the everyday person.
What does it matter, why should we care?
Whilst these problems might seem remote, the implications will impact every man, woman and child across the world, from the smallest villages in the UK, to the emerging countries in South America, the islands in the Pacific, across Asia - India, Australia, Singapore and even the strong nations like Germany and Switzerland. Why? How?
We are all dependent on each other, no country is self sufficient and the ripple effect has now become the tsunami effect. Exports and imports, trading and finance drive our economies. We have seen our lives improved over time, with fancy gadgets, fine foods, longer lives through improved understanding of health, pharmaceuticals, research into diseases, science, the arts, technology has enabled us to travel not only from town to town but country to country.
So how is all this at risk? What is the fuss? Simply that if Europe, the UK and the US go into recession again, then the entire world may face a significant downturn in their growth. We may even face a depression, which has not been the case for 80 years.
And how does this affect you and me? A recession or depression means higher unemployment. Young people cannot get jobs, crime increases, companies work their employees harder, charities do not have money to fund important causes, budgets for research, health and education are reduced. Small and medium sized businesses in particular face greater pressure and their survival becomes precarious. Product quality is reduced as businesses cut costs. And if large organisations fail then the even more people are affected, as it is not just the employees, but their families which face hardship, and the suppliers lose an important source of income and the tsunami rides on.
This is why the failure of Lehman Brothers, a US investment bank, was such a pivotal moment. It caused enormous losses, panic and it is always the threat of business confidence which drives and maintains poor growth in the economy. Losses are realised and the spiral downwards goes on. This is why we cannot let Greece and Italy fail. Anyone who suggests that happens is a fool and it seems we do not learn from history, even recent history, which if you remember from school seems to be humanity's failing - we never earn from our mistakes. We play the blame game and claim it's always nice to have hindsight.
What can we do? Do we wait and watch as our world crumbles? Or bury our heads in the sand?
We need to say no. We need to demand more of our politicians. Do not trust that this will be fixed without us all doing more. The cracks have been widening for nearly three years. Complacency and indecisiveness, lack of co-ordination have all seen this demise and the earthquake is imminent. We need to discuss this problem and find solutions. We need to draw on the intelligence and wisdom out there. Across coffee shops, lounge rooms, dining tables, board rooms, canteens, playgrounds, we should all be talking about this. The power of the word then action is paramount. We need collaborative effort. We need to come together as a society and unite to face this challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment