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Daily Archives: March 24, 2020
Covid-19s Economic Pain Is Universal. But Relief? Depends on Where You Live. – The New York Times
Posted: March 24, 2020 at 6:17 am
In a Queens apartment, a laid-off busboy has no idea if he will make next months rent or feed his family. An out-of-work waitress in Amsterdam, though, can count on the government to cover 90 percent of her wages. As a Malaysian florist anxiously burns through her savings, cafe owners in Brussels receive about $4,300 to make up for lost revenue.
Weeks of layoffs and lockdowns have made clear that poor and working-class people will bear a disproportionate share of the pain from the coronavirus pandemic. In cities around the world, work has stopped. Bills have not. And no end is in sight. But the first wave of government rescue packages has exposed another reality: The pain will depend largely on where people live.
The disparity reflects not only the worlds differing safety nets, but also the contrasting views of a governments role in a crisis. Should it pump cash into the economy? Bail out businesses? Replace lost income for workers? Those questions are at the heart of a protracted debate over a nearly $2 trillion rescue package being negotiated in Washington.
I dont know what Im going to do. Oh my God, said Jose Luis Candia, 34, who lost his two jobs busing tables at high-end Manhattan restaurants. His wife gave birth to their third daughter a month ago. Friends have donated money for groceries. He does not know how he will pay rent or what will happen if he cannot.
Half a world away, in Copenhagen, workers in Mr. Candias situation face a different reality. The Danish government has promised to cover 75 percent to 90 percent of salaries if businesses do not lay off their employees. Better to pay to keep people employed than to pay for the disruption caused by mass layoffs and unemployment, the government has said.
I live from paycheck to paycheck, said Sebastian Lassen, 25, a coffee shop manager in Copenhagen. He feared the uncertainty, he added, but never considered that the government would allow so many workers to fall into poverty. We didnt come to the thought that, OK, maybe well be on the street, he said.
The Netherlands will pay up to 90 percent of wages for companies hit hard by the pandemic, with extra provisions being developed for restaurants. Everybody here believes that the government will take responsibility for the situation, and I believe that too, said Athina Ainali, a 25-year-old waitress for one of Amsterdams many shuttered restaurants.
Washington is divided over how to dole out recovery aid. Proposals have included one-time $1,200 payments. The biggest chunk of money, about $425 billion, is set aside for central bankers to use largely as they see fit. Economists say they expect that will include buying corporate debt and stabilizing financial markets. Democrats say the proposals do not do enough to expand unemployment benefits, provide food assistance or relieve student debt.
New York restaurant owners and workers are calling for aggressive action, including doubling unemployment benefits (which currently cover only about 50 percent of wages, even for minimum-wage employees) and providing rent abatement for displaced employees.
What distinguishes the United States from other countries is not the nature of the bailouts. Its the underlying structure, said Carol Graham, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies safety nets. People are more vulnerable from the get-go, even in normal times. You throw a shock like this at the system? Its about as bad as it could get.
American workers face extra anxiety over medical costs. The United States, unlike most of the developed world, does not guarantee health care.
While countries like Denmark have famously robust safety nets, even the Conservative government in Britain has, after years of austerity, adopted a similar approach. For the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and pay peoples wages, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said last week. The plan, which is still being developed, will pay up to about $2,900 a month to workers who have lost hours but are not laid off.
The center-right government in Germany will spend more than $40 billion to help small businesses cover basic needs to stay afloat during the crisis. That is in addition to a program aimed at larger companies, called kurzarbeit, or short-time working, that covers lost wages for employees who are sent home, to avoid laying them off. Economists expect about two million workers to receive aid under the program, more than during the financial crisis a decade ago.
We have a security net, and people dont fall below the security net, said Dierk Hirschel, the chief economist of ver.di, one of Germanys largest trade unions. But people are going to lose income, and in a traumatic way.
The German development bank, KfW, has promised an all-but-unlimited supply of business loans. There will be no upper limits for the amount of credit that the KfW can give out, Peter Altmaier, the minister of the economy, said.
Even with the rush to save jobs, uncertainty remains. Britains plan may come too late for workers who have already been laid off. If they cannot find jobs soon, they will most likely fall into the nations welfare system, which can pay as little as $300 a month. I do not know where to go from here, said Delphine Thomas, 20, who was laid off from a movie theater in Liverpool.
South Koreas employee-retention program covers 70 percent of wages or more, and the government recently loosened the rules to make more businesses eligible. But part-time workers, contractors and the self-employed receive fewer protections. Some may be eligible for one-time cash payments. Labor advocates want those workers to have the same benefits as full-time employees.
Business owners, too, face uneven support depending on the country. Elias Calcoen and his partner opened a cafe in Brussels eight months ago. It has been closed for more than a week, but the citys government is offering small businesses immediate $4,300 payments, plus $1,300 a month in federal aid for displaced self-employed workers.
We have no kids, we are in good health and the Belgian government is not leaving us by ourselves, Mr. Calcoen said. There are many people who are in a much worse position.
Brenda James-Leong, a florist in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, says she has been burning through savings while her store is closed. The Malaysian government has offered monthly assistance to the unemployed and lump payments to workers in certain sectors. If the government is doing anything for small businesses like mine, it has not been communicated as of now, she said.
Such apprehension is common, even in countries with generous aid programs. Ursula Waltemath, who owns Restaurant Brace in Copenhagen with her husband, has converted from fine dining to takeout. With schools closed, their 3-year-old daughter shadows them everywhere. At this rate, she figures they can survive three months, even with the government paying a portion of salaries.
It sounds amazing, and it is, to have this help, she said. But even 25 percent of all employee salaries, and rent and basic expenses, is a fortune if you have zero income.
Reporting was contributed by Anna Schaverien, Su-Hyun Lee, Jack Ewing and Melissa Eddy.
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Covid-19s Economic Pain Is Universal. But Relief? Depends on Where You Live. - The New York Times
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Trump’s right: Congress should give Americans $1,000 right now to fight the coronavirus recession – The Conversation US
Posted: at 6:17 am
Much of the U.S. economy has effectively shut down as America increasingly takes the coronavirus pandemic seriously. Retail stores and restaurants across the country are vacant. The entertainment and hospitality industries are on hiatus.
While necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, this will have grave consequences for the economy as well as for the tens of millions of workers who depend on hourly wages to buy food, medicine and put a roof over their heads.
The Trump administration is finally taking it seriously too and asking Congress to pass an US$850 billion stimulus package, including sending $1,000 checks directly to all adult Americans. Some lawmakers are pushing for larger payments and over several months.
This is welcome news. As a macroeconomist specializing in income inequality, I know direct payments are just what low-wage Americans suddenly without a paycheck need to endure the crisis, which could last many months.
Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, this is an economic crisis hitting working-class and low-income Americans hardest.
Professional, salaried workers are able to work from home. They will continue to get regular paychecks and be in a good position to weather the economic storm created by the coronavirus. Professionals who lose some income likely have some savings to rely on until the economy recovers.
On the other hand, the waiters, retail clerks, hospitality industry employees and other hourly workers who make up nearly 60% of the U.S. labor force will be without work for an indefinite amount of time and rely on an unemployment insurance program that is far too stingy.
Furthermore, low-income Americans typically live paycheck to paycheck with virtually no savings. A recent survey by the Federal Reserve found that 40% of households couldnt come up with $400 to meet an unexpected expense.
Compounding this problem is excessive household debt, now exceeding $14 trillion. Highly indebted households are more vulnerable during an economic downturn. Their debt obligations must be paid, even when their income drops. My own research has found that many households were in financial distress well before the coronavirus hit. Now they are much more likely to default on loan repayments.
The bottom line is that people need money to survive.
Whats more, the U.S. economy needs people to spend money.
Consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity. It was already slowing and will slow much further now that people are losing their jobs and incomes.
Like the coronavirus, the problem of households in financial distress must be contained before things spiral out of control. Millions of retail clerks and bartenders suddenly without a job for several months cant spend and cant keep the economy growing. Their spending is others income, which means more companies will lose sales and other workers will lose their jobs.
They also wont be able to repay their debts, whether a mortgage, auto loan or credit card. When lots of indebted consumers cant repay their loans, financial institutions are at risk of going under, leading to a real financial crisis, as Italy now appears to be experiencing.
Thats what makes quick payments to Americans so vital.
Unlike many other forms of stimulus, the U.S. can send citizens $1,000 very easily and without delay the Trump administration hopes to do this within a couple of weeks. Ideally, it does it with no questions asked, no strings attached and for many months.
Its basically just a temporary form of what entrepreneur Andrew Yang talked about a lot during his run for the presidency, and its hardly new. When done on a permanent basis, its known as a basic income guarantee and has been proposed by a variety of people, from liberals like Yang to conservatives like economist Milton Friedman.
While people have an urgent need for money to simply pay bills and buy food now, the basic income guarantee is usually pushed as a longer-term solution to reducing poverty and inequality, as well as to offset the expected declines in employment as a result of automation and other technologies in the coming decades.
Its unclear for how long the White House wants to send out checks, but in my view they should be sent out each month until the economic crisis ends so that people can pay the rent, pay utilities and buy food.
A check in the mail is so very vital right now, but its not enough.
The U.S. should also expand unemployment benefits and other social insurance programs. Small businesses whose customers have vanished will need more support so that they can survive. And some industries, like airlines, may need a bailout.
But $1,000 would be a good down payment to help Americans already struggling and losing their jobs.
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Who the government’s coronavirus economic measures leave behind – Left Foot Forward
Posted: at 6:17 am
These are some of the holes in the government policy. The government needs to act swiftly to the low-paid, self-employed and homeless and also needs rules to prevent abuses.
The UK governments response to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic has been disjointed. A good example is last weeks announcement that government grants will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a total of 2,500 a month.
This late conversion to helping people to pay their bills and thereby keep businesses afloat is most welcome, but there are omissions that require urgent attention. Some examples:
There is little help for the UKs five million self-employed people working as carpenters, electricians, diggers, gardeners, tax drivers, self-fillers, cleaners, home helps, sole traders, owner managers and freelance journalists. The only help offered by the government is that every self-employed person can now access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees.
The Chancellor said: Im strengthening the safety net for self-employed people too, by suspending the minimum income floor, a measure used by the Department for Work and Pensions to calculate the amount of Universal Credit. There are complex conditions.
The Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is 94.25 per week. Even if someone goes through he hurdles of claiming the Universal Credit, they will only receive about 400 a month.
As the government is committed to providing the wage subsidy through HMRC, it could adopt an alternative approach. The income of the self-employed often fluctuates. HMRC could estimate average annual income and then apply the 80% test and 2,500 ceiling.
The government proposals hit the poorest the hardest. The current rate of the national minimum wage (NMW) for a 25-year-old is 8.21 an hour rising to 8.72 an hour from 1 April 2020. Many on and around the NMW will only receive 80% of their normal wage unless their employer pays the other 20%. If employers do not do that, the poorest workers face a wage cut of 20%. The government guarantee needs to cover 100% of the NMW. This could be done by to establishing a floor for the wage subsidy or a Universal Basic Income (UBI).
The governments wage support does little for 320,000 homeless people in the UK, many of whom may be outside the tax net altogether. A UBI would help them.
The current tax free personal allowance for the purpose of income tax is 12,500 a year. Some 42% of adults have an income below that threshold. The low-paid often do not submit tax returns and thus cannot be helped by a subsidy administered by HMRC. UBI is the best way to help them.
The government scheme only helps employees on payroll at 1st March. This does not offer any help to those who were made redundant just before that or persuaded to take unpaid leave before the Chancellor announced the wage subsidy of 20th March. An equitable solution would be for employers to withdraw the redundancy notices and unpaid leave.
The wage subsidy is not accompanied by any obligations upon the employers and is open to abuse. It could have considered a range of options, including requiring employers to pay 20% of the wage, a promise not to cut staff for the next 12 months or change their employment rights, a curb on executive pay, or a requirement to have employee-directors on boards so that employee interests are explicitly taken into account in the post coronavirus period.
The wage subsidy needs to be accompanied by curbs on dividend payments so that corporations preserve their cash flows to aid survival and recovery rather than using the public resources to enrich a few. Amidst the crisis, on 20th March or earlier, EasyJet paid a dividend of 174m whilst putting staff on unpaid leave. Some 60m went to its co-founder Stelios Haji-Ioannaou. It is hard to reconcile public subsidies with lavish dividends.
Many workers on low pay face wage cuts but are required to pay 100% of their rent, and other bills. There are numerous regional, class, age and income/wealth inequalities, but around 7.5m workers have no savings to fall back on. They can be evicted for non-payment of rents. The government needs to enact legislation to prevent evictions for rent arrears. It also needs to freeze, reduce or waive utility bills for the duration of the crisis.
These are some of the holes in the government policy. The government needs to act swiftly to the low-paid, self-employed and homeless and also needs rules to prevent abuses.
Prem Sikka is Professor of Accounting at University of Sheffield and Emeritus Professor of Accounting at University of Essex. He is a Contributing Editor to LFF and tweetshere.
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COVID-19 outbreak brings attention back to informal sector – Down To Earth Magazine
Posted: at 6:16 am
It was abundantly clear after the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak reached Jabalpur, Lucknow, Bhilwara and a reported case from a slum in Mumbai that Indian public policy needed to include the neglected informal sector workforce: The most important stakeholders for politicians.
People across the world are dealing with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, including several shocks that ravaged economies.
The impact of the epidemic is nuanced and multi-layered.
There is no question that what we are about to see is a hyphenated reality: The one that lies in the co-existence of independence-interdependence of local and global economies and more bluntly, globalisation and de-globalisation.
Global and local supply chain disruptions loom across the world, devastated travel and tourism industries, global aviation bracing for impact, tanking stock markets, cancelled events and postponement of several elections are some of the impacts the world is facing.
The crisis ahead is complex and exposes deep societal punctures as everyone slides into a cocoon of imminent self-isolation.
Several state governments in India announced comprehensive packages, keeping in mind the needs of the poor.
The Delhi government, in addition to a Rs 50 crore package in its 2020-2021 budget, announced free lunch and dinner to the homeless, free ration and double pension.
The state governments of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, etc, all announced urgent welfare measures, keeping in mind the problems of the urban and rural poor.
The working classes, the urban poor and migrant labourers make the economy tick. They, however, bear the brunt each time an unexpected shock hits them.
These shocks have dire consequences: Economic dislocation, long-term livelihood shocks, occupational and social displacement.
Labourers and migrant workers were seen leaving for their native homes, according to media reports and visuals seen on social media.
They leave for the possibility of finding family support, cheaper food, accommodative social structures and a community sense, compared to a fairly alienated urban eco-system.
The existence of the anonymity of the city could not have been more obvious.
The alienated luxuries of exercising work from home or calling in sick are not options for those who struggle for daily wages and live hand-to-mouth.
Over 90 per cent of the countrys total workforce lies in this informal sector, largely excluded from holistic legal and social protection, or poor security benefits.
Social distancing, work from home and hand sanitisation are the most logical elixirs correctly recommended and implemented worldwide.
It is, however, worth understanding why many of our brethren dont have these luxuries, essential in a lockdown situation.
These are isolated concepts when one sees the problem from the lens of the average construction worker, airport staff and garbage collectors sanitising our lives without protective gear.
It beseeches us as a society to look within and understand why these important stakeholders continue to be the most vulnerable.
They act as bridges between rural and urban India. They are the most important economic buffers that help the economy sustain and thrive.
We must be considerate to factor in compassion and incorporate concepts of affordability and accessibility to the fore, if policy is to be overhauled.
This is the minimum urban vocabulary that takes ages to trickle down to the most important stakeholders: People at the wrath of globalisation and its discontents.
How do family members of a household that does not have access to water constantly wash their hands? How does a family of five living in an urban slum practice physical and social distancing?
It is about time that governments come up with a comprehensive plan to protect working classes and the unorganised sector not just at the time of an epidemic, but for the long haul.
Prioritising resource allocation is key which is why governments are now designing packages.
A problem of this magnitude, however, should not be the reason to wake up.
A revamped approach to universal basic income or minimum income guarantee on an emergent basis is perhaps needed.
Such concepts were discussed before the 2019 general elections.
India Inc also needs to step in and prove their societal responsibility and ethical commitments. Anand Mahindra and Reliance Foundation have taken the lead in this regard.
A more serious and empathetic approach to cooperative federalism towards coordinated action between the centre and the states, most importantly, becomes the need of the hour.
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Coronavirus, Surveillance And The Redefinition Of The Social Contract – Forbes
Posted: at 6:16 am
The Baidu Inc. map application displays the locations visited by people who have tested positive for ... [+] the coronavirus in an arranged photograph taken in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. For decades, China has been building and refining the ability to track its citizens' whereabouts and interactions to contain dissent and protest. The state's effort to try to contain the rapid spread of the new coronavirus is now testing the limits of that surveillance system. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
At this point, with half the world in lockdown, it goes without saying that we are living through an episode that will leave an indelible mark on our future. We are no longer just talking about the deaths and the economic crisis the coronavirus pandemic will undoubtedly cause, but about much deeper changes we will have to make to prepare ourselves for a future that suddenly no longer seems so attractive.
The coronavirus has jolted us back to reality. We may have thought we were enjoying the greatest period of well-being in history, but now we know we are vulnerable, that we live on a planet we are destroying and making uninhabitable for our species, and that our activity causes mutations in microorganisms that periodically manifest themselves as dangerous pathogens. The best that this pandemic can provide us with is the evidence that things should not return to the way they were before.
How will we live when we have the pandemic under control? Everything we are learning about the coronavirus should help us prepare better for future pandemics, which there will be. At the moment we know that acting quickly is essential, that covering things up, downplaying the threat or not taking responsibility just makes things worse, and that some countries are doing much better than others in flattening the curve and containing the pandemic. As I commented at the time: the United States was a disaster waiting to happen.
We now know what we only suspected at the beginning of the month: the enormous importance of testing. The more test kits are available, the simpler and the faster they are, the better. The commitment to diagnosing as many people as possible set those countries that are managing to contain the pandemic apart from those that continue to see the number of infections rise.
In addition, we must maintain the lockdown, however difficult. We should listen to somebody who grew up in a society where there were no civil rights, Angela Merkel, talk about how the current situation justifies restricting our movements. And matters will not stop there: people might have been shocked when they saw China use apps and geolocation to control the movements of its population during the spread of the infection, but we now see Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan following suit: their success is being used to justify population control measures that would be completely unacceptable under normal circumstances.
Now, with the pandemic spreading exponentially, the US is considering suspending some constitutional rights, and asking for information from Facebook, Google and other technology companies about to implement measures similar to Chinas, to the extent you can do so in a democratic country. European mobile phone operators are beginning to share their users data with the authorities to identify their customers movements without revealing their identity, so far honoring the GDPRbut that could soon change.
Were going to have to adapt the social contract to facilitate the mechanisms to allow the state to bring populations under greater control by monitoring them without giving up our civil rights when the lockdown is lifted. In the future, health care will change drastically, and monitoring devices will become fundamental. Being able to impose a really effective quarantine without idiots trying to escape to the country, being able to guarantee that an infected person remains isolated or being able to trace the movements of someone during the period they could be acting as a vector of the disease becomes key, but without becoming a police state.
Were going to have to do more if were going to bring the coronavirus under control, and leveraging technology to do so makes perfect sense. Quarantines must be tightened, research must allow us to understand why some people only have mild symptoms while others become seriously ill or die, even if it means sequencing the DNA of all those who undergo testing. And we must accept this as something exceptional, as something to help resolve a crisis, without losing our hard-won civil rights.
The coronavirus has made us aware of many things. Among them, that we can slow down and halt an epidemic. Now, let us act with the same determination to solve a more serious problem: the climate emergency. Let us act to change the way we live and turn ways of alleviating the crisis through subsidies and temporary aid into a safety net system by providing unconditional basic income to keep the entire population above the poverty level, not only in the face of a pandemic, but forever.
Can we ensure that these exceptional measures are not cemented in place? The only way lies in redefining the social contract. That will be just one of the many things we will have to do in the hopefully not-too distant future.
We really need to get our heads round this one
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Commentary: We need food, medicine and safety not tax cuts and corporate bailouts to face coronavirus – The Daily World
Posted: at 6:16 am
By James K. Galbraith
Los Angeles Times
As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, my fellow economists have reached deep into their bare cupboards of old ideas, and what have they found?
Models that do not work: bailouts for big companies. Tax cuts for people well-off enough to owe taxes. Cash-grant schemes, a favorite of the universal income crowd.
These tactics wont be effective. We cannot predict how bad the economic situation will get. And however bad it is, you cannot fill the hole with money alone.
In 1929, Irving Fisher, the greatest economist in America, said that stocks had reached a permanently high plateau. In December 2008, the incoming Obama team locked onto a forecast that was out of date by Inauguration Day. The models now are useless. Is the $1-trillion-plus package proposed by the Treasury Department enough? No economist knows. In this situation, we must act without knowing, and do whatever it takes.
But we must act wisely. Bailouts of airlines will benefit those who own stock. Tax cuts, no matter how designed, are geared toward people who have money to tax. These are not priorities.
Cash grants are another issue. Cash is simple, appealing and welcome although getting it quickly to those most in need is not so easy. But the main problem right now is not a shortage of cash.
The critical looming problem is the security and stability of basic supplies. We can beat the virus if people are separated and sheltered in safe and secure homes and apartments. For that, they must remain housed and fed.
We need medical supplies, as everyone knows: masks, oxygen, respirators, ventilators. We need field hospitals, converting hotels and dormitories and even stadiums. We need people trained quickly to work these facilities and to be paid well for work that requires them to be on the front lines. We need to gear up factories all over the country to make the necessary goods, on the assumption that global supply chains will not be revived before inventories run out. For these tasks, we need workers.
We also need more basic, everyday items that flow across the country in vast domestic networks: food, cleaners, disinfectants, paper goods, motor fuel. They need to get into grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations. For all that, we need truckers, stockers, checkout clerks, managers. Even the restaurants that now only offer takeout will need drivers. We need security guards in the stores. In short, our critical service and distribution workers need to stay on the job.
These needs arent going to be addressed by bailouts. And cash grants come with two big hazards. First, they may fuel panic buying and hoarding, accelerating the rush to shortages, deepening hardship and even hunger for those who do the right thing and refuse to panic. Second, cash grants may encourage essential low-wage workers to stay home, making it difficult to keep the distribution chains working as they must.
We need instead to guarantee that our critical sectors food, fuel, medicines, household basics all stay open, while everything inessential is closed. For this, workers in those sectors need higher wages, health protections, a guarantee that medical costs will be covered if incurred. Amazon has raised wages, and that is a start. All big distributors, grocery and drug chains and fast-food franchises should follow.
Well also need many more workers in health care a sector where armies of domestic workers could quickly deploy their cleaning and housekeeping skills. People with some training in health care proper can get more. People who have quit the sector can come back. Better pay will help here as well.
The millions now being laid off do need expanded unemployment insurance a shelter-in-place supplement would replace some lost income. The fast way to do this is through employers; just have the government reimburse them.
But more important for those at home is to cut their costs. Los Angeles has enacted a moratorium on evictions and late fees for renters. The federal administration has announced a moratorium on foreclosures for some mortgages. These are proper steps. Internet and other basic telecommunications services should be made free for the duration. The government can support closed businesses with loans and grants to keep them in hibernation until this abates.
Can all this be paid for? Of course it can be. Whatever we can do, we can afford. Getting caught up in budget guesswork, business as usual for Congress and economists, is a time-consuming mistake. In the end, the problem is not money. It is speed, logistics, targeting.
For that, a Health Finance Corporation, modeled after the Reconstruction Finance Corporation of Depression and World War II fame, with unlimited borrowing power, can put the money where it is needed. States and cities, the National Guard and the Army, business and labor can all do their part. If we act, at once and wisely, a better America will rise to the call.
James K. Galbratih teaches at the University of Texas at Austin.
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New Zealand Orders Month-Long Lockdown To Halt Spread Of Coronavirus – International Business Times
Posted: at 6:16 am
KEY POINTS
New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered a month-long lockdown for the country beginning on Wednesday to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Schools and businesses will shut down, residents will be required to stay indoors and only essential services -- supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, doctors clinics, service stations and gas stations -- will be open.
Nonessential services like bars, cafes, restaurants and cinemas will be closed.
Public transport will be available only for those people who work in essential services.
New Zealand, a nation of 4.8 million, has confirmed more than 100 cases of the virus, but no deaths yet.
New Zealand has already closed its borders to foreign travelers.
Ardern said that community transmission of the virus was taking place in New Zealand and that, in a worst case, the number of cases would double every five days, meaning that ultimately tens of thousands of people could die.
The worst case scenario is simply intolerable, it would represent the greatest loss of New Zealanders lives in our history and I will not take that chance. Ardern said. I say to all New Zealanders: the government will do all it can to protect you. Now Im asking you to do everything you can to protect all of us. Kiwis go home.
If the number of new virus infections slows down after a month, the lockdown will be partly relaxed in specific areas, she added.
The situation here is moving at pace, and so must we. The trajectory is very clear, act now or risk the virus taking hold as it has elsewhere, Ardern added. We currently have 102 cases, but so did Italy once, now the virus has overwhelmed their health system, and hundreds of people are dying every day. Today, get your neighbors phone number, set up a community group chat, get your gear to work from home, cancel social gatherings of any size or shape, prepare to walk around the block while keeping a two-meter [6.5 feet] distance between you. If in doubt, dont go out.
After Arderns announcement, New Zealand witnessed panic buying at grocery and liquor stores, while phone lines were overwhelmed.
New Zealands stock market plunged 8.65% on Monday.
Ardern also noted that police officers and even the military will enforce the lockdown.
We dont want to get to a place where we need to enforce these instructions, but we will if required, said Commissioner of Police Mike Bush.
It is an unprecedented scenario for the country.
We are all as a nation preparing to go into self-isolation, in the same way we have seen many other nations do, Ardern added. These measures will place the most significant restrictions on New Zealanders movements in modern history, this is not a decision taken lightly but it is our best chance to slow the virus and save lives. I know what I am asking for is significant, but I ask New Zealanders to move through this next phase in an orderly way.
Simon Bridges, the opposition leader, as well as scientists and public health experts had been calling for shutdown.
Finance minister Grant Robertson said he might introduce a universal basic income for all New Zealanders. Otherwise, New Zealanders might be able to access their superannuation accounts early, like Australians already can. Robertson also said the shutdown has the support of the business community.
Robertson also said the government will inject NZ$4 billion [$2.3 billion] into the economy over the next eleven weeks. He also unveiled support for mortgage holders, a business finance guarantee scheme and a freeze on all rent hikes.
We cannot guarantee to stop all job losses, but we are doing our best to cushion the blow, Robertson said.
Australia, which has reported thousands of virus, cases, started some lockdown measures on Monday, but has not imposed self-isolation.
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All the Coronavirus Tribes You’ve Met During the Outbreak – VICE
Posted: at 6:16 am
This article originally appeared on VICE UK.
You sit at home, desperately trying to video call your colleagues from your badly lit bedroom. Your housemate watches Yoga with Adriene next door on YouTube, and your mum tries to FaceTime you for the third time today. Somewhere outside, a child screams. As you stare out your window, making eye contact with the man in the house across the road, you start to realise that this coronavirus thing is making people act... weird.
Who would have thought it would take a mere global pandemic to get us behaving like this? Downloading episodes of Friends onto a hard drive in case the internet goes down or stockpiling a dry roasted peanuts, Chardonnay, and tins of pineapple because it felt like the right thing to do at the time?
We have officially as a nation lost it. Of course, this a stressful time for many people, but this coronavirus outbreak is really showing the unique and deeply unsettling ways many respond in times of crisis. Here are some of the tribes youll encounter during this madness:
Your phone pings. Aunty Ruth has sent you a message. 'Weird,' you think. You didnt even know she had your number. Hi luv. Just wondering if youve seen the news about wuhans virology lab? Dont u think its strange. China def started it. Check out this link. Luv uxx
The link opens to a news site youve never heard of. You leave it.
Another ping. It's a forwarded image of a message from someone called "Daddy". Big news: not sure if the second half is 100% percent checking BUT 1. Whole country is going on Lockdown on Friday for 15 days. They expect the peak to hit in this period. All companies will have to Wfh. Army are being deployed to London for support. 2. Prince Philip has apparently passed away (albeit not from Coronavirus) and this will be announced in the next day or two. I believe my source is good in the Royal media office."
Just saw this and thought you should know. say hi to mum for me xx.
You block the number.
Really think gvmt need to make internet accessible to all as isolation takes hold, writes one lukewarm take merchant on Twitter.
Worried about layoffs a basic income for everyone could become necessity! No 10 needs to act, says another.
A disgrace that the NHS is so underfunded. Lack of ventilators will cost lives. Cash injection now!
This is what youre seeing as you idly scroll your Twitter timeline on Day Two of social distancing. Are you really reading this from the same people who spent the entire 2019 election campaign writing broadsheet op-eds titled things like Labours Socialist Plans Will Bring Pestilence on the UK, Rail and Utility Nationalisation Is For Idiots, and More Money For Schools? LOL?
Could it be that in a time of national crisis (and indeed at all times!), socialist policies are simply the most humane and most practical strategies to enact? Could it be that furnishing everyone with the dignity of a basic income, secure housing, and reliable utilities is actually good??
You are phoning your dad to make sure he is OK, what with the "everything" that has been going on. Youre expecting a bit of banter about there being no pasta in the shops (what the bloody hell are you going to eat then, thats all you can cook isnt it? etc. etc.), and some gentle chat about working from home. Instead this is what happens:
You: Alright dad, how are you? Staying safe?
Dad: Safe? What do you mean?
You: Well, with the virus and everything.
Dad: Oh bloody hell you dont believe all that do you?
You [realising now the magnitude of what you are dealing with, of the immensity of this mans belief that he is right in every situation this is, after all, the person who lost Trivial Pursuit screaming the answer is ALAN SHEARER; that fucking question card is WRONG and didnt speak to anyone for 12 hours afterwards]: Yes! Have you not been staying in?
Dad: No, are we supposed to? I was just on the way to the pub actually
Mind you, he is fuming that theres no bog roll in the Co-Op down the road, so its not like hes completely unbothered.
The preppers aren't always the ones you expect. Theyre not overly organised, but now you think about it they do have a sort of quiet, unhinged energy about them. Head round to theirs for a coffee, and you'll notice the UHT milk (Sorry its not fresh! Got loads of these though!), or the four packets of rice, 30 instant noodles, pasta, and jelly (weird flex but OK). Fine, you guess. Then you'll find out about the 6 AM trips to Sainsburys and the bag of cash under their bed, and you will be able to confirm that yes, indeed, you have found The Prepper.
You dont mock them though, because, ultimately, when youre subsisting off spoonfuls of mustard and rice, staring down the barren aisle in a Tesco Metro, you will need them more than ever.
"HEY GUYS, PLEASE JUST LET ME KNOW IF YOURE GOING OUT OR USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT. IVE PUT OUT SOME MORE HAND SANITISER AND DISINFECTANT WIPES AROUND THE HOUSE, SO PLEASE MAKE USE OF THEM AND ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU GET IN. JAMES: I HEARD YOU COUGH AROUND 2PM YESTERDAY. PLEASE STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND LET US KNOW IF YOU COUGH AGAIN. ALSO NO BFS/GFS AT THE MOMENT. SORRY GUYS JUST A BIT STRESSED HERE SURE IT WILL BE FINE DONT USE MY TOWELS OR MUGS."
Everyone who rents knows that renting in most cases is shit. You pay half your monthly wages to a shadowy and malevolent letting agent to live in a damp box in a "desirable location" (above a chippy in Clapton, 20 minutes from the nearest station) that you aren't even allowed to decorate with a measly Blu-tacked photo on the wall. This is, at best, financially destabilising and at worst actually degrading.
Everyone who rents knows this. Usually, it hums along in your brain as a sort of general background awareness, sometimes peaking with a red wash of anger when the oven breaks and it takes the landlord or agency three weeks to respond to your email, let alone fix it.
But right now, as the economy collapses in on itself, and all those most likely to rent (i.e. younger and lower income workers) are let go from their precarious jobs with no guarantee theyll be able to keep the roofs over their heads your resentment has been sharpened. Youve started a WhatsApp group called "RENT STRIKE FUCK THEM" and youve been reading up on property law while you self-isolate with a cough that is being made worse by the damp in your room. It goes without saying that you are a legend and I love you.
@RubyJLL @hiyalauren
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12 disruptive business and technology trends for 2020 – Consultancy.eu
Posted: at 6:15 am
New research from management consulting firm The Next Organisation has identified some of the most disruptive business and technology trends for 2020 and 2021. The following twelve trends will according to the researchers have a truly disruptive impact on economy, society, organisations and people.
Consumers start to understand that the current impact of human beings on the world needs to be changed. This means that people not only start to live healthier (nutrition), but also want to have more insights in the origin of food and goods towards a more sustainable planet.
From eating a more plant-based diet to searching the supermarket for plastic-free produce, a growing number of consumers are trying to live a more ethical lifestyle. This is because they are more concerned about the impact we have on the environment. As a result, consumers have started buying products with more ethical or sustainable practices and the demand for sustainable goods is increasing. Moreover, from consumer packaged goods, to big tech to fashion brands, ethics and sustainability are moving from a nice-to-have, to a base rate expectation of brands; it is a responsibility.
In addition to the main trends, two other emerging consumer behaviours will become increasingly important. Consumers are eating less meat, drinking less alcohol and their attitudes towards leather are changing. To service these behaviours, companies are responding with broader offerings. And it is recommended to respond, because there is a growing audience waiting to be catered for.
In the upcoming years, the following ethical trends will predominate: plastic-free produce, plastic-free packaging, compostable carrier bags, plant-based foods, natural fabric clothes, clothing re-sale and recycling schemes. To be fair, the average consumer is not going to be a zero-waste consumer for a long time. However, companies that embrace this trend quickly, will have a competitive advantage.
People are getting more and more aware of their health and the methods they can implement in order to prevent or overcome diseases and disablements. Technology embedded with biology reshapes the playing field of medical institutions, key in this; accessibility and scalability. From biohackers to CRISPR/cas9 gene editing, this new industry is at the forefront of rapid growth and discussion.
Whether it is in food, medicines, sports or life sciences; the simplicity and low costs of digital fabrication make it possible to build own lab equipment and apply biotechnology outside laboratories or research institutions. Hold your horses; gene doping of athletes DNA will be a topic during the upcoming Summer Olympics in Tokyo. That is just sports, but have you ever thought of the fact that within a few years, it will be possible for premature babies and embryos to (further) develop in an artificial womb?
Ethical discussions on the above-mentioned topics will start, but in the meantime people also start with biohacking their body. This basically involves controlling external stimuli leading to the creation of the optimal self. It is about hacking the body using natural or technological resources to maximise physical and mental performance. And as number of people are consciously wanting to improve their health, things as biohacking will turn into practice.
Biohacking involves things we eat, drink, smell, touch, hear, and see. The difference however between biohacking and a general healthy and conscious lifestyle is to think of our biology as a physical system, which can be enhanced by conducting measurements, monitoring and feedback.
Imagine the impact biohacking will have on society once people see the effect of it. It will influence the working world as the level of productivity and cognitive function increases. Next to that, social relationships for example, will improve with people having better moods and more energy. Companies and brands can adjust to this movement and seize new opportunities that develop over time. Keep in mind: the sharing and availability of open source knowledge enables everyone to get involved in biotechnological developments.
Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotics are trends that are not new in itself. While robotics for automation purposes already exists for decades, adding IoT into the mix will change the rules of the game: Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) is making an entrance. The acronym IoT refers to a network of billions of physical devices around the globe. These devices are equipped with internet-connected sensors that provide ongoing data collection and sharing. There is no shortage of IoT devices and applications. Many people are reaping the benefits of smart light bulbs, smart thermostats and activity trackers.
IoRT is the next level of IoT; integrating sensors into robotic systems. In fact, Artificial Intelligence is built into robotics systems to process the data delivered. This enables the system to observe, interpret, evaluate and take decisions, comparable with the human way of processing tasks. Combining robotics and Artificial Intelligence by sensor technology is also referred to as Embodied Cognition; implying robotic systems to perform tasks that are learned by means of training (and by which they become self-learning).
In the years to come smart robots will impact both B2B and B2C. Collaborative robots will be of help in various crafts, such as welding and painting. It is expected that robots, performing autonomous tasks, can solve the problem of labour scarcity. The long(er) term vision is that robots relieve humans of all heavy, monotonous and/or irksome tasks.
Lastly, daily life assistance is seen as another area of growth. Worldwide, the number of people aged over 65 is expected to double between 2020 and 2050, and they cannot all be served by people. The domestic robot is not only considered as a smart device, but also as an artificial creature that improves over time. This creature will also impact our relation to technology, were artificial empathy is being studied more and more, as it is a new dimension to our lives of which we do not know the impact of.
Can robotic creatures become our buddy? A challenge for tech companies to embed and design the human edge in their smart solutions.
The rise of voice technology is clear and everyone knows the voice assistants such as Apples Siri, Amazons Alexa and Googles Assistant. The technology enables voice assistance through a smart speaker which creates a three-way interaction between devices, services and people and has completely changed the way consumers interact with computer devices.
Voice control is the next evolution of human-machine interaction, thanks to advances in Artificial Intelligence, data collection, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things. According to Voicebot, nearly 50 million people own smart speakers in the United States, which works out to roughly one in five adults.
This technological trend has a huge impact on everything. For example, experts say that in this year (2020), 50% of all online searches will be done with voice search. Consequently, brands have to adapt their way of promoting their products and services. Companies will change the way they are organised as internal knowledge can be shared more easily resulting in new workflows and communication streams and the broader possibility to multitask leads to an increase of productivity.
In 2020 and beyond we will see a transition in voice technology as an information tool to a transaction tool. Voice p.a.s do not offer only the best results, but also the possibility to directly order and even pay. Challenges for the further development of this trend also lie in security and privacy matters; do we really want big tech in our living rooms?
Next, mostly SEO (search engine optimisation) and online marketing of brands also needs to be done differently. Experts say, that a voice assistant is used in a more human manner by people than they use a computer. Therefore, emotional connection and trust in the device/ service are key for the success of voice assistance.
According to the UN, 70% of the world's population will live in cities by 2030 1.5 billion more than in 2010. And all these people need energy, healthcare, water, mobility, housing and community areas. This booming urbanisation and consequent stretched infrastructures cause environmental, logistical and social challenges threatening the quality of city life and therefore the well-being of citizens.
Technology forms the fundament to overcome these challenges and defines a new way of living together. As cities are becoming smarter, we see a change in how people do business, organise their lives and (inter)connect with others and things. In cities of the future smart technology, governmental institutions, commercial parties and citizens collaborate to make the city more liveable, sustainable and safe; a playground for public-private initiatives.
Interesting here is that the playground for companies and industries worldwide is determined by the ecosystems that can be developed there: places for cooperation between partners, knowledge institutions nearby, a robust economy and with access to the labour market. Our current thinking and boundaries must make way for these new, facilitating ecosystems. This should create a city that is good for everyone, even if you do not live or work there.
Where cities become smarter and dense, there is also a trend towards the rural, countryside areas. Escapism from the busy city-lives has been a concept around for ages and again is seeing growth due to the challenges listed before. While you can think of future cities with Blade Runner-esque streets and shiny, high-tech buildings, it is the countryside that is on the front lines of change according to worldwide renowned architect Rem Koolhaas. Technology makes isolated areas accessible and attractive for e.g. data centres or solar fields. Areas where drones deliver packages and meanwhile monitor meadows.
Technology will strengthen the kaleidoscope of functions and eliminate rural isolation. Modern agriculture can become more closely connected with nature. Although the countryside remains the main supplier of food, lab-grown food and processing are coming to the city. Technology, therefore, becomes an integral part of nature and vice versa. And this requires a mental change, especially for governments that interconnect spatial planning, investments, the labour market, nature, agriculture and technology.
And as the European Commission aims tohave 5G commercially availablein at least one major city in every EU member State by the end of 2020, the first steps of this transformation is getting shape; change is literally coming your way.
The 2030 ambitions for the European government are the greenest ever, with a minimum CO2 reduction of 40% as the main attraction. These targets have major consequences for the current mobility ecosystem. Smart roads, interconnected self-driving vehicles, car- or ridesharing and productive travel time are all future possibilities. Our current mobility ecosystem is on the verge of a revolution. And it is here sooner than you think.
The way we see and perceive mobility today individually owned vehicles, gas stations, traffic jams and drivers licenses will drastically change in the coming dozen years. Different developments and innovations happening right now will change the game as well as its players. New collaborations and business models will emerge. Expected is that two very different business models will co-exist: traditional carmakers and mobility service providers.
The 'traditional' carmaker will continue the current model of manufacturing increasingly improved hardware, the car itself. Technological improvements of battery life, lower costs of electricity, maintenance and total cost of ownership are expected to generate shifts towards electronic cars across entire fleets. Next to their electronic transformation, cars are becoming smarter and more autonomous. Essential for car autonomy is interconnectedness. More and different systems will connect, transforming them from reactive to proactive systems offering personalised services, ultimately evolving in so-called virtual drivers.
Next to traditional carmakers, mobility service providers will rise. Together with partners they provide a mobility platform consisting of different customer services based on customer interface. Compared to costs of ownership, the costs of subscription are relatively low. While different, both business models have a major role to play. Yet, future success will only be achieved by exceptional collaboration between different markets and players, both private and public.
Every single day we consult photos, videos, sounds, human voices, written texts and reviews to live our digital lives, but... What if they all can be faked? This so-called infocalypse, based on deep fake technology, is on its way at fast speed and puts us in front of a new era of information consumption. Is it real, is it fake, or is it real fake?
Deep fake is the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology for the creation of fake information. In short, this generative AI software can create synthetic media such as faces, voices, texts, images, moving people and sounds. Good to know: deep fake is based on negative intentions.
In the last year, we have been introduced apps such as FaceApp and ZAO, in which you can replace existing images into new versions of yourself. These can create a lot of laughter and on the positive side, the creative sector could get a boost from all the possibilities of generative Artificial Intelligence. People become their own film star or admire fake models such as Shudu with thousands of Instagram followers already. It is already there at our fingertips.
However, the downsides seem to have a far more fundamental impact to think about. A majority of Europe is based on democracy and the foundation of a democratic state is, after all, a shared perception of reality and a corresponding agreement on facts. It could be a serious strategy of one country to sow discord in another (adversary) country. By polarising with fake news there is less sense of community, thus making it more difficult to steer politics.
The great danger is not so much that a lie is turned into truth or vice versa, but that the credibility of the truth is affected. If we face a future in which everything and everyone can be imitated, then nothing is real anymore, because it be dismissed as a lie or fake news. Who or what are we then going to trust?
A world where we trust our lives, economies and societies to technological innovations is evolving. One question that becomes highly relevant is if one can live a digital life without giving up on privacy. Where Facebooks usage declined for the first time last year, their trust issues continue, with the failure to launch Libra as the best example. These trust issues continue to grow in a larger discussion on moral standards, technological dependencies and privacy, since these form the fundament of our society.
The current lack of trust created a group of consumers that can be classified as reluctant sharers: people who are concerned about or would prefer not to be, sharing their personal details, but feel compelled to do so in order to gain access to a service or product. With the introduction of the GDPR this group is growing and growing, since they are now empowered with rights over their personal data. Consequently, there is a re-balance of the rights and powers between an individual and the supplier, which puts an urge on taking a serious look at privacy standards and ethical frameworks.
With datacentres as the new coal plants and big tech as the new oil firms, a shift is happening; from offline powers to a digital playing field in which geopolitical borders and influence seem unrestricted. With an average of 25 trackers per website, Tinder selling your dating preferences, or ultrasonic tones in TV commercials being picked up by your smartphone to target you, large tech companies seem to have free play in grasping and forwarding your personal data. Not to even think of what is going to happen with our biomedical data that is going to be embedded in technology more and more.
Next to this, with advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, autonomous technologies (voice-assistants, robotics, cars) become more normal too. However, it is also expected that these behave ethically towards living things. The design of this is still in human hands and that needs to be overseen.
The large data companies know what they are doing (for the good or bad) and we as consumers mainly keep convenience in mind. And yes, there are headlines regarding the Cambridge Analytica scandal or the protests in Hong Kong, where demonstrators are wearing masks against Chinese facial recognition software. However, the protection of our privacy and ethics is a public concern that affects us all. Facebook and Google do not have the reputation of ExxonMobil or Shell.
But the youngest generation, for whom internet and smartphones are as self-evident as petrol pumps and gas stoves for the previous generation, we must surely prepare for the difficult conversation with your kids: "Mom and Dad, how could you be so stupid and naive? To conclude; our current ethical frameworks do not hold. Prepare for a discussion on the following question: what kind of society will become the normal?
The experience economy has already been introduced two decennia ago. In this view, organisations fulfil a different role in society and serve customers differently. Namely, they do not merely provide customers with product and services, but they focus on providing customers with personal and memorable experiences. An economy based on quality rather than quantity.
Moving from extracting commodities, making goods, delivering services to creating experiences, that is where the origins lie of the experience economy. Despite it has already been mentioned years ago, it is today that the experience economy gets shape. Organisations increasingly focus on providing their customers with an experience instead of just and sec products or services. People care less about owning things, but want to be flexible and do not mind sharing things with people to extract value out of experiencing products or services. This is also in line with the concept of the sharing economy.
Providing experiences is important because people are more demanding than ever. They are not just asking for good products and excellent one-off services, but they look for entire experiences. They demand extraordinary experience along their entire journey, starting already in their orientation phase. If organisations smartly think about what their customers want, through maintaining and creating continuous dialogue, they are more likely to succeed and differentiate from competitors.
In the upcoming years, the experience economy will evolve further. Organisations, mainly in the B2C landscape, that actively think about turning their offering into extraordinary experiences will differentiate from their competitors and facilitate customers with greater value.
Many business professors still teach the 1970s doctrine of Milton Friedman: The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Growth, therefore, is at the heart of the business model. But the foundation of this model was developed at a time when we did not comprehend the natural limits to growth. Over the last years a new term has been rising: the Sustainable Business Model (SBM).
Sustainability is not just about recycling or fair trade practices, it touches every part of a company, from its supply chain operations to its talent practices, and to the physical workspace itself. Organisations will either be labelled as sustainable or shameable, with nothing in between.
With the upcoming climate goals of the European Union and significantly increased general awareness, SBMs are emerging rapidly. Within the wideness of the term, there are several trends that appear to be having the most impact in the upcoming year: (1) supply chains go circular and (2) hire to retire to re-hire.
(1) An increased longing for circular goods, in a way that production is done in an (social) environmentally neutral (or positive) way and used products are recycled up to a level where the product in its entity can be used again. The worlds biggest companies will transform their supply chains to become circular since ethically-minded consumers ask for a change in the production model. BMs will change from out of sights, out of mind to being accountable for the whole end-to-end supply chain.
(2) SBMs does not just apply to the supply chain. Nowadays, most businesses do not even consider the prospect of re-hiring previous employees, but in 2020 and further we will see several forward-thinking firms, particularly in under pressure industries like financial services, taking a chance on the tried and tested.
To underpin the above mentioned trends; there has been a strong growth in Certified B Corporations, known as businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Have you started yet?
As we saw a rise of digital ecosystems such as AirBnB and Booking.com, facilitating mainly customer focused needs and problems, ecosystems will evolve even further with a very open character. Competitors might share or give away their resources to solve shared problems instead of a focus on the commercial win. Three key elements: data, transparency and partnerships.
There is a shift from using closed technical infrastructures to open platforms that enable a complete (digital) ecosystem available to everyone. In short, an ecosystem has one central database in which all relevant information is stored. Based on this data, the system can provide relevant information real time. Moreover, if a company opens up their platform to users, partners or others willing to contribute, it can perfect its market offering using input from its collaborators.
This allows them to react faster to flaws or jump in on opportunities exposed by the data in the ecosystem platform. Also described as open data or open innovation, these platforms are mainly based on the idea that a group of experts can do more than a single company.
From now on, the three key elements of ecosystems keep on evolving. With more and more devices connected, the amount of data available is endless and with the first 5G devices entering this year, the availability and speed of data will rise. Moreover, businesses with different profiles but operating in common markets with common customer profiles will seek for partnerships for the mutual benefit.
Combine this with the fact that mega-brands (e.g. Starbucks) keep getting bigger, their global footprint also becomes bigger. When trying to differentiate from a sustainable point of view, as consumers expect, open ecosystems might be the key to leverage this need with powerful innovations.
Middle class movements always have been an important target group, both as the foundation as well as driver of consumer markets. And they stood up in the recent few years. While booming in developing countries, they are struggling to maintain the economic position they enjoyed for decades in developed countries. But last year, in 2019, we saw that it is not only the middle class stepping up. Actually, all layers of society are stepping up on issues that, despite of social class, relate to us all.
Accelerating economic growth in various countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, has led to a decrease in between country inequality, helping billions of people out of extreme poverty over the last decade. The notion is that this trend, commonly referred to as the rise of the new global middle class, has important consequences for global consumption and investment patterns and will act as an accelerator of further economic, social and political development in the developing world.
In the developed world, on the other hand, middle-class households have not seen any significant improvement in standards of living since the 2008 financial crisis, as a result of weak income growth and continued economic uncertainty. The yellow vests movements, that began in France in 2018 claiming that a disproportionate burden of governments tax reforms were falling on the working/middle class, is one of the concrete expressions of dissatisfaction. It is important for brands and businesses to understand the impact of this on customers' behaviour and habits.
In the last year, we have seen different movements from different classes stepping up. To illustrate the trend in the Netherlands; it rose from 220 protests in 2014 to 1360 in 2019. Worldwide we saw such signs' too; from privacy-related protests in Hong Kong to how dare you by Greta Thunberg in New York. And from criticism on the broken European financial systems with negative interest rates to civil protests throughout Chile in response the increased cost of living and inequality.
Although taking place in different parts of the world, there seems a common denominator: all levels of society step up, mainly against politics. They step up against a system' that has created growth and wealth for a majority of the world, but this system has shown vulnerability. There is a common feeling that it has reached its limits. It is climate change? Technology? Brexit? Or even Trump? At least they are catalysts in a discussion that is rooted in the reassessment of values, ownership and priorities.
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12 disruptive business and technology trends for 2020 - Consultancy.eu
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Technology is radically improving care for veterans – Healthcare IT News
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How do you play pool when one hand is paralyzed? How do frontline military doctors successfully consult with surgeons back home when time is of the essence? How do medical centers capture and assess patient feedback, and implement improvements promptly and effectively?
VA is answering these questions and dozens more by transforming its technology systems to create foundational change. Part of its three-pillar approach to modernization, VA is leveraging innovative technologies, both in-house and commercial off-the-shelf solutions, to provide veterans with personalized medical care that addresses their individual needs, and the results for veterans and their families are amazing.
Advances in technology affect every aspect of our lives, from how we interact with one another to the products we rely upon. Some of the most important technological developments take place in the field of medicine, radically transforming the quality of care patients receive now and in the future.
Using cutting-edge tools such as 3D-printing and virtual and augmented reality, clinicians are able to treat patients in ways that were unimaginable in previous decades. The StrongMind initiative, for example, leverages VR gaming to treatveterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, providing a safe and supportive environment for processing trauma and opening up about their experiences. Breakthroughs in AR technology are also now enabling doctors in the U.S. to virtually step into field hospitals and assist physicians, in real-time, when treating wounded service members. This augments critical skills and expertise, without losing crucial time.
Some of the biggest breakthroughs in healthcare delivery, though, have come in the field of 3D printing. This burgeoning technology is improving pre-surgery planning, tailoring custom protheses, designing tools for those with disabilities, even building organs and bones. By testing and implementing emerging technologies, VA is ensuring that veterans receive the care they deserve.
Modernization is a "learning journey" that requires review and course corrections along the way. Ensuring our improvements are effectively addressing veterans needs requires information from the end users themselves. To this end, VA developed Veterans Signals (VSignals), a digital platform to collect feedback from veterans, eligible dependents, caregivers, and survivors. Using artificial intelligence, VSignals automatically analyzes the feedback to detect sentiment, determine which topics veterans are mentioning, and predict what might be emerging before they intensify into long-term concerns. As of mid-2019, VSignals has received over 3 million responses, which in turn have guided process improvements throughout VA.
Innovation doesnt happen in a bubble. Through a growing number of programs, initiatives, and strategic partnerships, VA is facilitating breakthroughs in healthcare delivery and services, improving our ability to serve the veteran population now and in the future.
In todays digital world, data analytics and machine learning are some of the biggest drivers of innovation, especially within the healthcare industry. VA is developing strategic partnerships with industry leaders to help guide research around future applications of AI. Already, these partnerships are yielding tangible benefits for veterans, such as developing an AI-driven forecasting system that can predict a potential life-threatening kidney condition up to two days before it happens. Predictive modeling through AI is also enabling VA to use medical data to identify veterans at high risk for suicide, and proactively address the personal needs of those veterans. Leading the development of AI will allow VA to leverage cutting-edge AI technologies to provide veterans with the best possible care.
Through advanced data analytics, VA is redefining the possibilities for personalized medicine with its precision oncology programs. By linking patients to the most effective cancer treatments available, veterans receive care that is specific to their particular needs. A recent study showed that clinical implementation of precision oncology is feasible across the across the VA health system, even for rural veterans. This is especially significant, because rural areas in the US, where more veterans tend to live, have higher mortality rates from cancer than urban areas.
VA is leading the healthcare industry in other ways as wellby creating one of the nations first 5G-enabled hospitals.Technology previously seen only in science fiction can now show surgeons 3D-imaging of the insideof patients before they start operating, displayed alongside a full read-out of their electronic health record data. Surgeons across the country are able to virtually enter the room to consult on surgeriesthrough the pairing of 5G with AR capabilities. By becoming one of the worlds first healthcare systems to embrace 5G technology, VA is helping to shape the future of the industry, both nationally and globally.
VA is currently in the midst of an historic evolution designed to evolve the Department into a high-performing organization. VA is transforming systems to create foundational change simplifying operations to improve customer service and empowering people to embrace change. Modernization initiatives touch every part of the way VA does business. Together, we are delivering a stronger future that better serves our veteran population and their families. Find out more about VA Modernization at VA.gov/modernization.
Surafeal Asgedom is chief modernization officer at the U.S. Department for Veterans Affairs.
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