Round About

Year 2025: What is in Store?

Let me at the outset wish my esteemed readers a Happy New Year. We are entering the second quarter of the 21st century at a momentous time marked by the promise of great technological breakthroughs in all spheres of life. Yet, we cannot wish away the turbulence staring at us. The continuing Russia-Ukraine war, turmoil in Gaza, and the list is expanding. All of us are yearning for a silver line to emerge to ensure peace and harmony globally.

2025 has started with promising start. Donald Trump has been elected to be the 47th president of USA. I predict that USA economy will grow significantly under President Trump’s leadership. There is a cease-fire in Gaza which is expected to be permanent. Ukraine war will also end shortly – all because of Trump.

The other day, I had the opportunity to listen to the discussions of a group of scientists and technocrats who professed eloquently the future dimensions of technological growth. They analyzed quantum leaps that might come in various sectors like healthcare, education, transport, space, and manufacturing driven by technology. They forecast that world financial architecture will undergo a tectonic shift with the advent of digital money. We are experiencing that in our day-to-day life. Money transactions have come down considerably. People prefer to use digital money because of its easiness and swiftness it can bring in transactions. Yet, we face a lot of cyber-crimes and frauds that are happening in the same way as the progression of digital transactions. Experts say digital fraud cannot be wished away since that is the flip side of automation since technology is neutral and it can be used for both good and bad.

While listening attentively to the discussions of the top scientists and technocrats, one thought haunted me. Should not they discuss the man for whom the technology be subordinated? What is the use of technology if it does not lead to the happiness of humans? Should we rethink the concept of technology for its own sake and find a balance between technology and human welfare?

I always feel poverty and destitution are the biggest crimes perpetrated by human race. That way I am a votary of George Bernard Shaw, who famously said poverty is the worst crime and greatest evil. It was reiterated by the welfare school of economic thought, which urged governments across the world to take conscious steps to eradicate poverty. Yet, the market economy is ruling the roost. I do not have any qualms about it. Let that be so; yet, the world at large should give more importance to people facing economic deprivation, countries that are languishing because of inadequate funds for development works, and projects that can generate more employment and income for the people.

While the developed world is creating ideas to build civilizations in space and is directing trillions of dollars for research and development to conquer outer space, billions of people across the developing and least developed world are pondering over how to make both ends meet. That should be a priority area for the governments to address. Most of the deprived countries cannot do that on their own. Mere financial support by spending billions of dollars on them may not work as is the case now since that will create a set of vested interests, who would misappropriate such funds to their advantage through corrupt means. World leaders should sit together with development experts to find lasting ways to find solutions to such problems.

Let us take, for example, the internet and its global spread. We must see whether they are evenly spread. Do people at the low rung of the economic pyramid have access to the internet, which I believe is a great leveler? I can take an example from the Indian context. Before the advent of the internet, if one could compile data on people qualifying for civil service examinations of all hues, it could be seen most of the people qualifying for the examination and interviews are mostly from metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. It is my conviction that the trend has changed. I attribute that shift mostly to the internet. Every aspirant can have access to knowledge through the net wherever they are and need not necessarily in these metros. That is an affirmative change that has taken place in the Indian context. Yet, I feel more such social engineering should take place to help students from all corners to have equal access to not only education but also healthcare, access to government funds, etc.

Ensuring access to such common goods is basic to democracy and an important tool of welfare economics. We can also extrapolate such happenings to business as well. We must work towards proliferating entrepreneurs in the country from every nook and corner whether he or she is from a rural or tribal side. I believe we have made some progress in that traction; but has a long way to go.

Should this example be emulated in the global context? Can the big technology giants in the US, Europe or China make a deal with poorer countries that they import raw materials or market their products to help the youngsters in these countries to have better access to education and draw up schemes for skilling them not as a part of their voluntary corporate social responsibility but as a part of sustaining their business interests? The Sooner they realize this as their responsibility the better since the poorer world is fast realizing the fault lines of their development agenda and how others are taking advantage. Let me also share with you that such a development agenda is in line with the enlightened selfish interest of the investing countries to avoid backlash from the youths of countries they have been engaging as the continuation of the colonial legacy.