Essentials
for a sustainable healthy economy, nation and world
Yesterday’s Washington Post
printed the opinion piece of former U.S. treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson
Jr. “How we should shape our Post-pandemic economy”. He is now chairman of the Paulson Institute
and co-chairman of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group.
Below the eight factors ensuring that we will
see future pandemics. Below these are his seven prime recommendations on for our recovery.
His recommendations are both wisely
warranted and sadly lacking. Hopefully his
Institute and Aspen group will adopt a more comprehensive perspective than their
leadership has offered below.
Eight factors ensuring future pandemics: all factors or interdependent. Humanity can control each of them with sufficient
political will.
1. Travel and Trade.
2. Global Poverty (lack of
clean water, sanitation, basic education, primary health care service, and
adequate nutrition)
3. Microbial Mutations:
4.
Damages to nature:
5.
Reliance on mass production technology amplifies spread of pathogens when minor
errors of human judgment or machine malfunctions occur:
6. Hospital acquired infections, Invasive medical procedures, overuse/abuse
of antibiotics:
7. War, genocide, ethic
cleaning, inadequate global response to localized natural disasters.
8. Dysfunctional
Government(s). Lack of political will to
invest in prevention or adequate detection, response and R&D systems.
Paulson’s seven Recommendations: But first, his introduction needs some tweaks.
He stated, “our economy was fundamentally
strong before the crisis”. Given that
this crisis (or one far worse) was inevitable and predictable by any economist
worth is weight in ventilators, Mr. Paulson needs to widen his perspective on
economics to include the real world in which the other 99.9% of us are trying
to live.
His suggestion to “look ahead and make today’s investments count…when
the recovery begins” needs tweaking. He goes on to state that “the policies we put in place will be more important
than the coronavirus crisis itself in determining the economic prosperity of generations
of Americans and the effectiveness of the United State’s political system and global
leadership, both of which are rooted in economic strength.”
Wise investments in the recovery will also
protect our fundamental freedoms as well as the security of every government,
corporation, individual and environment that we all depend on for our very existence.
Paulson admits “we must modernize and adapt capitalism to fit the
post-coronavirus” world. But, achieving this level of sane global management will
only work sustainably if we go beyond just fitting “the post coronavirus circumstances so that more Americans can participate
in our future economic success” sustainability. It should now be self-evident that everything is now
fundamentally dependent on the weakest global link. And thus, all Americans as well as all of
humanity must be able to fairly and adequately participate in any future economic
success. This will require global
codification of fundamental principles that come first before any “market-based principles” of “Capitalism”
can be sustainably successful.
Fundamental principles can best be
defined by using the simple and profound words provided in our nation’s
Declaration of Independence. The “Laws
of Nature and Nature’s God” that “entitle” all humanity with “unalienable Rights”. The “Laws of Nature” should be obvious to most
scientists and educated citizens. The “Laws” of “Nature’s God” should not
invite controversy if this phase is understood to mean the universal genius underlining
the foundation of every major world religion -- but practiced by few -- the Golden
Rule. Together these two fundamental law
sets effectively unify the natural callousness of the ‘survival of the fittest’
with the human civility of ‘protection of the weakest’. Joined these two law sets give legitimacy to
any and every government in the world. Sadly,
few governments (or economic systems) today include both.
Thankfully, Mr. Paulson offers some
of these in his 7 “fundamental principles”.
1.
Our economic
model should protect those most in need.
We must significantly upgrade our social
safety net while maintaining incentives to work. [Praise the Lord!]
2. State of the-art infrastructure is essential to economic
competitiveness. It’s time for a modern-day
domestic Marshall Plan that includes massive government and private investment
to…create the infrastructure of the future. [He doesn’t seem to
understand that viruses don’t respect borders. The Marshall Plan need to be global.
The initial success of the Marshall Plan focused only on Europe didn’t protect
us as well as funding the achievement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
would have. Today that would look like funding the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals]
3. Human capital is what differentiate us. To bolster
the productivity and resilience of our economy we need beg, smart, forward-looking
investments in education… We also need an immigration policy that tracts,
educates and trains the best minds from around the world. [We need every
education system to prioritize the fundamental concept of health – the prevention
of problems instead of just reacting to them as the arise. Putting the health of our minds, immune systems,
the environment, our economy, government, and international relations between
nations - should all be the highest educational priority globally. We need a ‘human rights first’ foreign policy
not an immigration policy that continues to put national sovereignty superior
to human rights.]
4. Protectionism will destroy our competitiveness. Trade
fosters American competitiveness and innovation. We need to strengthen our
investments in trade linkages rather than retreat into self-destructive isolationism.
[Without enforced global standards for protection of human rights and the environment
we will continue to fuel conditions that spawn new and reemerging infectious disease,
as well as the spread of dual use technologies that enable the spread of WMD
capacity. Either of which will result in less trade and more destructive isolationism
populist movements.]
5. Our environment is vital to long term prosperity. [Yes! A
self-evident truth too often ignored by those who put wealth creation above a health
foundation.]
6. Capital is the lifeblood of the economy. We must
nurture best in-class capital markets with a regulatory and oversight regime that
ensures financial stability and consumer protection while encouraging the
innovation that has mad them the envy of the world… [“Nurture” isn’t the right word. Codify is.
Nurturing has only led to the innovation of corruption which remains a
cog in the wheel of capitalism, instead of an irregular glitch. Offshore (and some onshore) ‘global banks’
hold approximately $32 trillion stashed there by oligarchs, kleptocrats, criminal
cartels, violent extremist groups and wealthy capitalist avoiding/evading taxes.
This must end and those ill-gotten funds
returned to serve the basic needs of humanity instead of an extreme wealthy few.
Trust is the lifeblood of the economy,
capitalism, government, freedom and sustainable security. Capitalism is just a tool that needs to be limited
in its use. Just like nuclear power.]
7. Massive debt will cripple our ability to achieve
long-term prosperity. The aim of the recovery
must be to get more Americans working, spending, and paying taxes. When the recovery is behind us, we will have
to begin the long but essential process of reducing our national debt. But in the end, more revenue will be
necessary and wealthier Americans will have to pay higher taxes. A major overhaul of our tax system can raise substantial
revenue without hurting competitiveness. And we can reduce federal expenditures
if we make reforms, such as fixing our inefficient and expensive health-care
system. [Great! Three self-evident truths! 1) Debt inevitably
cripples prosperity. 2) The rich must pay more taxes. 3) We need a major tax system overhaul. But the only effective way to reduce federal
expenditures is by investing in preventive measures on every aspect of our lives. Our government’s long accepted habit of reacting
to crisis instead of investing in preventive systems that address root causes is
the primary driver of our astronomical debt.
We must understand that investing in human security globally is far less
expensive than perpetually reacting to the national security threats of
terrorism, pandemics, war, or economic depressions. And there will never be enough money in the known
universe to provide all Americans with the medical fixes we need because we
failed to take care of ourselves with self -evident behaviors. As much as 80% of our so called ‘health-care’
expenditures are devoted to easily preventable illnesses and injuries that we
bring upon ourselves. Too many Americans
believe they can eat, smoke, inject, or do anything that want while full well knowing
the consequences and expect others to pay for the astronomically costly results.
We need to make the distinction between a
‘health care system’ and a ‘illness care system’.
Conclusion: It is the failure of human government,
economic, religious, and cultural systems and structures to adhere to the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God (think ‘Golden Rule’
or ‘justice for all’)”. Pandemics and
infectious diseases are the best instructor of the irreversible fact that we
are all interdependent on one another’s health and cooperation. That prevention is key. And, that our concept of independence is
lethally flawed. Covid19 is the best
evidence that we need a global, holistic, ‘one earth’, health for all and everything
approach. In reality human, animal, and environmental
health as interconnected with the health of our economy, infrastructure,
democracy, civility, religious practices and every other aspects of our earthly
dependence. The evolution of pathogens,
weapons, injustice and increasing global chaos is changing things faster than
our minds can grasp and our government systems respond. Time is not on our side. Things change, many exponentially. Can we?
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