The Reshaping of the World

World Economic Forum

 Comes a time when enough is enough, the world's elite has once again arrived at the yearly World Economic Forum located in Davos Switzerland, a good way to kick off this New Year and it's Black Hole of spiraling debt that has hijacked the entire world.  So your not alone Pod and I make it a point once again to bring you the info and tools we all need to push this on a True North Course. Our Ship is taking on too much water the pumps are at full volume, where we're still sinking. Starting to man the lifeboats, women and children first!  Yea we're at that point but wait, others around you feel as you do and we're working on a solution to put concern back in the mix so all life can function.  It was reported just the other day that 3.5 billion poor people (that's half the world's population) have as much wealth as the 85 richest people on the planet, guess what, that's not working.  Will see if any of World Leaders step up, but seriously we're not waiting on them, watch who and what you invest, spend and support with your earnings, grade them and by all means don't bank with a Jack Wagon. Remember we're becoming Peoples Inc. a better player on the man-made Monopoly Board. 

Switzerland is a wonderful country, so if this doesn't take shape maybe you can move there.  In the meantime there is going to be no quick fix for this financial fallout, we're going to have to be more innovative to reshape what was destroyed. So I need some backing here, you're about to read an article from Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.  The world needs to read this and by all means follow this event as it unfolds.

World Economic Forum

Professor Klaus Schwab from the World Economic Forum Blog:

The Global Economy in 2014

At the dawn of a new year, the world is in the midst of several epic transitions. Economic growth patterns, the geopolitical landscape, the social contract that binds people together, and our planet’s ecosystem are all undergoing radical, simultaneous transformations, generating anxiety and, in many places, turmoil.

From an economic standpoint, we are entering an era of diminished expectations and increased uncertainty. In terms of growth, the world will have to live with less. To understand the implications of this, consider the following: If the global economy grew at its pre-crisis pace (more than 5% per year) for the foreseeable future, its size would double in less than 15 years; at 3%, doubling world GDP would take about 25 years.

This makes a significant difference to the speed at which wealth creation occurs, with profound effects on expectations. We ignore the power of compound growth to our detriment.

As for uncertainty, the world’s four largest economies are currently undergoing major transitions. The US is striving to boost growth in a fractured political environment. China is moving from a growth model based on investment and exports to one led by internal demand. Europe is struggling to preserve the integrity of its common currency while resolving a multitude of complex institutional issues. And Japan is trying to combat two decades of deflation with aggressive and unconventional monetary policies.

For each, the formulation and outcome of complex and sensitive policy decisions imply many “unknowns,” with global interdependence heightening the risk of large unintended consequences. For example, the US Federal Reserve’s policy of quantitative easing (QE) has had a major effect on other countries’ currencies, and on capital flows to and from emerging markets.

When QE was launched, it was the least flawed of the available policies, and it averted a catastrophic global depression. But its downsides are now apparent, and its abatement in 2014 could fuel further uncertainty.

The Fed’s QE policy, and variants of it elsewhere have caused the major central banks’ balance sheets to expand dramatically (from $5-6 trillion prior to the crisis to almost $20 trillion now), causing financial markets to become addicted to easy money. This has led, in turn, to a global search for yield, artificial asset-price inflation, and misallocation of capital.

As a result, the longer QE lasts, the greater the collateral damage to the real economy. The concern now is that when the Fed begins to taper QE and dollar liquidity drains from global markets, structural problems and imbalances will resurface. After all, competitiveness-enhancing reforms in many advanced economies remain far from complete, while the ratio of these countries’ total public and private debt to GDP is now 30% higher than before the crisis.

This source of uncertainty coincides with weakening performance in many emerging countries. Back in 2007, emerging-market growth was expected to outpace that of advanced economies by a wide margin, before converging. Today, the advanced economies contribute more to global GDP growth than emerging countries, where growth is forecast to average 4% in the coming years. Economic conditions are slowly improving in high-income countries, but a range of downward pressures may persist for years. The US economy, for example, remains stuck in a subpar recovery: inflation is too low and unemployment is too high. Official data have often been better than expected, reflecting how resilient, adaptive, and innovative the US economy is, but pre-crisis consumer spending and growth patterns are unlikely to recur.

Improvements in the eurozone are real but tenuous. The good news is that the disaster predicted by many pundits has been avoided, and the recession is coming to an end. But improvement does not mean resurgence: achieving the robust growth needed to reduce high unemployment, lower the debt/GDP ratio, and improve the fiscal outlook remains elusive. The greatest risk for the eurozone in the foreseeable future is not a disorderly exit by some countries, but rather a prolonged period of stagnant growth and high unemployment.

Meanwhile, the emerging-market slowdown may well persist, particularly in the largest economies. Over the past 15 years, the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have achieved remarkable progress, but their reforms – including new banking regulations and currency regimes – have been among the least difficult to implement.

So-called second-generation reforms, which are more structural in nature, are vital to long-term growth but much more difficult to realize. Elimination of subsidies, labor market and judicial reforms, and effective anti-corruption measures are politically charged and often are blocked by powerful vested interests.

The global growth slowdown is taking place against a backdrop of rising economic inequality owing to labor’s declining share of national income – a worldwide phenomenon, resulting from globalization and technological progress, that poses a serious challenge to policymakers. Systems that propagate inequality, or that seem unable to stem its rise, contain the seeds of their own destruction. But in an interdependent world, there is no obvious solution, because of high mobility of capital fuels global tax competition.

Even in stronger-performing countries, such as the US or the United Kingdom, faster GDP growth has yet to boost real incomes. In the US, for example, median household income has fallen by more than 5% since the recovery began. More generally, lower growth is fueling popular protest and social unrest, particularly in countries that were growing rapidly (for example, Brazil, Turkey, and South Africa), owing to the impact of rising living standards on expectations.

In such a charged social and political context, reviving high-quality economic growth is crucial. But where will it come from? Technological progress is a distinct, but highly uncertain, possibility. Many disruptive technologies (for example, advanced robotics, next-generation genomics, energy storage, renewable energy, and 3D printing) could drive future growth, but their full potential can be realized only in the distant future.

With most governments facing fiscal constraints, officials are reluctant to consider projects that might increase public debt. But there are some low-hanging fruit – productive investments that would boost long-term growth and therefore pay for themselves. A focus on four areas, in particular – infrastructure, education, green energy, and sustainable agriculture – could yield high economic and social returns.
Ultimately, however, the path to sustained growth requires not just new policies, but also a new mindset. Our societies must become more entrepreneurial, more focused on establishing gender parity, and more rooted in social inclusion. There simply is no other way to return the global economy to a path of strong and sustained growth. (end article)

That is inspiration from a man who cares, I do believe he is on humanities side and it's what we need in or corner.   Here is some more understanding of the issues of Economics from World Economic Forum.

Meet the man Professor Klaus Schwab, listen to what he says as to the 4 things you need to bring to this meeting.

 

Doing Business the Right Way

How can business regain trust through long-term value creation? 

Speakers: Indra Nooyi, Richard Goyder, Maria Bartiromo, Dennis Nally, Feike Sijbesma, Aron Cramer 

We have a lot of work to do from the board room through media, education, long term, environment impact, government participation, trust, business conscience, suppliers, community support a structure that encompasses a platform of business from the ground up.

Times have changed and we're in the midst of an overhaul.  This is a moving discussion in the right direction and the participants on the panel are high-level executives that know, we have a problem Houston.  This discussion is a must see and share in order to steer us on a True North Course.  All levels of executives, government, board members and the public need to come together, this is a great start.