Supply Excellence — Live from LIVE: Good New about the Global Economy!

Live from LIVE: Good New about the Global Economy!

May 13th, 2008 · by Justin Fogarty · No Comments · AribaLIVE, LCCS and trade, enviro/social sustainability, events, oil/energy, outsourcing, skills rectruitment and development, sourcing, supply management, supply market dynamics

As I mentioned yesterday, I was really looking forward to Professor Charlie Wheelan’s talk on the Global Economy and he lived up to my expectations. Given that his work deals with the intersection of economics and public policy, it’s no surprise that the context of his talk was around the choices we face as a nation and on the global scale. As with any major decision, our results will depend on how we interpret and react to the facts on the ground, or as he framed them, the Good News and Bad News.

So what Good News on the global economy did the Professor have…

Globalization - I know it’s been a while since you saw that publicly placed in the “Good” column since this is an election year. But the Professor’s point on why globalization is a very positive thing was twofold. First, bringing 1,000,000,000 people, who were living subsistence agricultural existences, into the global economy unlocks a tremendous amount of human potential. To put a Vegas spin on that point, the odds that a “special individual” who goes on to cure cancer or otherwise positively impact the world is greatly increased when you add that number of people to the intellectual capital pool. Second, was the upside of high population density, which the Professor believes will lead to further specialization. The theory is that greater density leads to greater competition. With that greater competition, people will continue to adapt professionally into more specialized roles and thus add greater value to society.
The death of the Unisaurus - I think most of the audience must have missed it when DaimlerChrysler quietly pulled the plug on the UniMog, which was some kind of massive SUV weighing as much as two Chevy Tahoes or…one Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Professor interprets low demand for such a vehicle for purpose of transporting kids and groceries as proof that indeed “green pressures are here to stay.” He made a strong Economics 101 case for continued high fuel prices (high demand and a limited supply). Although I’d say it’s debatable whether or not his belief that we’re seeing increased interest by consumers in sustainability, which economists consider a “luxury good”, due to our relative wealth…rather than the pain we’re feeling at the pump.
The 2nd Industrial Revolution - Professor Wheelan believes we’re at the cusp of a massive boom in productivity for two reasons. First, the efforts by Google, university libraries and publishers to digitize literally every book on their shelves will make “all of human knowledge accessible to you in your livingroom with a PC.” And second, the tremendous potential to improve human lives that was created in recent years with the sequencing of the human genome.

Some great signs if you look at the world as a glass half full. I’ll be back later today with the other side of the coin…the Bad News.

Justin Fogarty is the Managing Editor for Supply Excellence and will be reporting all week from Ariba LIVE 2008 in Las Vegas. If you have any questions or feedback about the site or event, you can email Justin at jfogarty[at]ariba[dot]com.

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