As our world approaches the third decade of the 21st century, we see controversial trends. On one hand, economic well-being, life expectancy, and educational levels are, on average, higher than ever. Despite ongoing regional and ethnic conflicts in different regions, casualties of war as a percentage of the total population are lower in the 21st century than at any other time in recorded human history.
On the other hand, income inequalities within major countries are increasing: the gap between rich and poor has been growing since the early 1980s in the US, in most European countries, and in many countries of the Global South. The size of the gap is approaching the historical highs of the beginning of the 20th century. This trend represents exactly the opposite of the concept of ‘inclusive development’, which is promoted by the UN and other international organisations.
A continuation of these trends could result in two outcomes. First, there may be social upheavals in some countries, where social tensions due to growing inequalities will become unbearable and produce social turmoil. Second, the rise of income and wealth inequalities means there are groups of people who are not gaining from globalisation; this creates fertile ground for a rise of nationalism and ethno-populism.
To prevent this worst-case scenario from materialising, new ideas need to emerge from open, equal, and cooperative exchange. Is there an opportunity to reform global capitalism, so as to make economic and social development inclusive and to give globalisation a human face? Or is capitalism so incapable of reform that it needs to be replaced with a more advanced social system?
Timings:
The date of the workshop will be announced soon
10:00 –13:00 | ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC MODELS FOR DEVELOPED COUNTRIES |
Vladimir Yakunin, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. | |
Giacomo Corneo, Professor, Free University of Berlin, ‘Feasible steps toward market socialism’. | |
Domenico Mario Nuti, Professor, La Sapienza University, Rome. Commenting on ‘Feasible steps towards market socialism’ by Giacomo Corneo. | |
Fabio De Masi, Member of the German Bundestag since 2017, Die Linke. | |
Jürgen Grote, Senior Researcher, Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. | |
13:00 – 14:00 | LUNCH |
14:00 – 17:00 | ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC MODELS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES |
Mukhamed Tsikanov, Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade (2000-04). ‘Presentation by Mukhamed Tsikanov in Russian.’ | |
Sergei Glaziev, Academic Adviser to the Russian President on regional economic integration (will join by video conference). | |
Fred Harrison, Director, Land Research Trust, ‘Free Riding and the Break with Capitalism. | |
Andrei Klepach, Deputy Chairman and Chief economist of Vnesheconombank. | |
Vladimir Popov, Research Director, Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, ‘Failure of economics? Or the failure of (some) economist?’ |