The State of the World panel at the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) on Monday saw the participants debating what constitutes happiness and well-being of people, concluding that economic advancement does not necessarily correlates to these concepts. They also pointed to the issues that paint a bleak picture of the world, but argued that this is what stirs dialogue and makes people look for solutions.
H.E. Ms Ohood Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing at the United Arab Emirates Government, noted that people today enjoyed great conveniences and privileges that previous generations could only dream of.
“We have achieved in two decades more than we achieved in centuries, especially in health”, she said, but added that many people also suffered from sleeplessness and depression and that the suicide rate was still high as well.
Al Roumi, who is also Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, said that well-being was gaining on attention as economic growth was not recognised any more as the main benchmark.
Discussing her role, she said that it was a mistake to assume that well-being was only in the hands of governments. Governments can provide a framework, but “it is up to individuals also to act on their own”.
Dr Christian Ketels, Chief Economist at the BCG Henderson Institute, Sweden, believes that the economy is “still in a good shape if you look at data”, but there is still a lot of anxiety among people.
“Somewhere in the shadows there is the memory of the economic crisis, and there is also a new worry – technology, with people concerned what it will do for jobs and labour markets.”
Ketels noted that there were unsettling trends in economic data which showed that GDP was not an optimal indicator. “We are generating growth, but it does not reflect on all people,” he added.
While arguing that is was a struggle in defining an optional possible economic policy, Ketels stressed that “we need to redefine the way of how we perceive economic success.”
Discussing the state of the world, Ms Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, said that efficiency was still a problem. “It is pity to waste resources, just by ignorance we waste a lot of resources.”
She noted that in transport, there were at least three major negative externalities of connectivity – still too many casualties on the roads, pollution that does not know borders, and the challenge of replacing fossil fuels.
Bulc said that the EU was going through a very clear transformation in international politics. “We are changing from global payer to global player, from the mentality of a coloniser to innovator.”
Prof Alf Rehn, Professor of Innovation, Design, and Management at the University of Southern Denmark, said that the future was being romanticised, as there were still many things that have not changed at all.
But nevertheless, people are facing numerous challenges, including what he calls the new automation, robotics, new networks and new resource wars, including a realistic possibility of a war for water within our lifetime.
He sees solutions in what he calls “new contenders” – countries that are not afraid to address issues and look upon them in a new way, countries which gather people and try to stimulate conversations.
The panellists concluded that people should not necessarily be pessimistic but that the problem is that the don’t know how to deal with certain situations and they are not sure whether they will make the right choices.
