Rebooting the Global Economy
The world’s elite just concluded their annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which focused on Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This upcoming age predicts a time when the barriers between humans and machines dissolve.
The past three industrial revolutions: 1.) steam and mechanical, 2.) division of labor, electricity and mass production, and 3.) computer and internet, were led by men.
What could we accomplish in the Fourth Revolution if it was led equally by women and men?
What if we stopped talking about gender equality as the sideshow and moved it to center stage?
What if instead of it being primarily women, like Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, and Christine Lagarde, the director of the International Monetary Fund, who talk about gender, the top male leaders drove the conversation and made gender parity an imperative.
What if we stopped commissioning studies and rehashing what we already know are the top barriers to the full economic participation of women?
What if, INSTEAD, every male leader did not just passively commit — but personally and actively engaged and acted upon what we know would eradicate gender inequality?
The world’s challenges are getting more complex. Why would we continue to rely on only half of our population and in many places the less educated half of our population to solve them?
According to Christine Lagarde, the IMF predicts four economic risks in 2016:
- The transition of the Chinese economy.
- Commodity prices trending lower.
- Asynchronous monetary policies.
- The flow of capital from low-income economies to advanced ones.
I believe there’s a fifth one:
Not fully utilizing women to address these risks, lead and create new jobs that drive future economic growth and social stability.
We are in a difficult economic and societal period. For now, monetary policy has run its course. To drive prosperity and peace, let’s finally use the best tool we have — the whole population, both women and men equally, and reboot the global economy.
