Talking about globalisation, productivity and Universal Pay

For starters, what is globalisation ? And is there a metrics that can help us measure the level of globalisation ?

The standard acceptable definition of Globalisation is that, it is a process that has enabled interconnectivity, thereby increasing trade and exchange of ideas as well as cultural experience among other things. Globalisation, as a process spread over 100 plus years has made the world richer, in terms of GDP. The process has also enabled the local champions, to become international bigwigs. And these international bigwigs have then, gone on to influence the change, or in other words, the process that, we have learnt to call ” Globalisation “.

To understand the affect of globalisation, we could look at how our main cities and societies living within those cities, have today become truly global, and therefore globalised in their views. So starting with New York City, which has an estimated GDP of around US$ 1.5 trillion, followed by Tokyo with an overall GDP of approximately US$ 1.4 trillion, and then London with an estimated GDP of approximately US$ 700 billion, followed by Paris with an overall GDP of around US$ 625 billion. And the other emerging global cities including of Delhi, which has an estimated GDP of around US $ 368 billion, are all bigger than some countries, in terms of their economic size. These city economies have reaped the benefits of the relatively freer flow of people as well as ideas supported by flow of capital from around the world. And it is quite safe to assume that, majority of the people living in this global cities, will have a favourable view of globalisation and the interconnected world.

Capital and ideas do not have geographical boundaries. Any attempt to limit or restrict the flow of capital along with ideas will only stifle progress, and it also goes against the natural evolutionary process. Over a 100 year period, human productivity, which is generally measured as a ratio of total output versus total Input, has benefited tremendously from innovation. And we are slowly reaching a point, where in certain sectors of the economy especially manufacturing, humans productivity as well as efficiency is no longer able to compete with the automation process driven by robotisation. Also, there will be increasing pressure on human as a labour force, to continuously reskill themselves. We may work longer, but on a lesser pay ( in terms of overall living standard ) than the previous generation. Technology may have made our lives easier, but it hasn’t increased the overall disposable income of people in general. So, a sizeable percentage of the population within our society will continue to feel under constant pressure. And this pressure and feeling of being slowly eroded isn’t all due to globalisation. The answer and the underlying reasons are more complex than some of us would like to suggest or believe.

The society that, we live in and along with it, our economies changes over time. And that’s part of the natural evolutionary process. Our body changes as we age, that’s how the biological process is designed. We aren’t physically capable of doing things that, we could do as a 16 year old, at the age of 60. So, we learn to adapt accordingly. Humans and humanity’s ability to adapt to change has been at the forefront of our evolutionary advancement. And the next generation of humans will have to be much better equipped than us, to stay relevant. Genetically speaking, humans are 99.99% the same, but we are still different in many ways including in our overall level of individual productivity. Not all the work force doing the same job, will have the exact level of productivity.

A human life is, more of a marathon than a quick sprint, and in the end, how we run the race decides where we end up. And the idea that, governments and political leaders can somehow help us stay in the race by changing the rules of the race in our favour, isn’t a permanent solution. We may get tempted to vote for those who identify with our problems, but the solution to the problems won’t come from pushing back against the natural evolutionary process. To facilitate a change, we must be prepared to change. And to change, one has to be ready to adapt to the changes.

Universal pay guarantee for those living below a specified and tested poverty line, could serve as the spring board, to help support those who may start to fall behind in the race. The fact is, not all of us will win the race, but we could try to finish it, without worrying about our individual ranking. We join the race, the day we are born, so we don’t really get to choose. But we can learn, how to run the race better. This is where, the society and governments could help, and they should.