Publications from the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) are surprisingly varied and it must be said particularly topical. One of the “buzz expressions” used everywhere these days is the “Global Age”, a follow‐on from the concept of the “Global Village” and other such titles that have caught the spirit of our time. This text, however, looks towards the world in 2020 and is written in the belief that we are on the threshold of a “New Global Age”.
It emphasises that all countries now have the potential of becoming active players in the global economy and also that in the next century there could be dramatic shifts in the global economic weight. It poses the question of what the world economy will look like in 2020. It is also concerned about whether globalisation is a source of uncertainty, turbulence and instability, or on the other hand a unique opportunity for increased and more widely distributed prosperity.
The publication is based on a whole host of OCED work and looks at the situation worldwide in 2020 covering the closely linked fields of trade, investment, taxation, social stability and the environment. The publishers believe that the challenges awaiting us at the dawn of the twenty‐first century can, in consequence, be assessed more clearly. Two scenarios are presented in the text concerning the world economy in 2020. The first suggests that there will be a continuation of current trends and leads to only modest growth, limiting the potential for human progress. The second gives us a more optimistic outlook on an acceleration of policy reform, with the promise of greater human well‐being and a better integration of developing countries, enhanced international security and a reduction in poverty worldwide. Cyberneticians and systemists are more likely to take the second vision as the most likely one to reflect their endeavours in this century which will bear such fruit in the next. The writers put their views in context by stating that:
This New Global Age will not materialise automatically. Significant efforts will have to be made to secure the stability of macro‐economic policy, facilitate large‐scale structural reform and define innovative approaches. The projections under this optimistic scenario are not enough: they must lay the foundation for an even more ambitious vision so that a new age of global prosperity can be fully realised. Feeding 8 billion people, ensuring the energy supply for the whole planet, preserving the environment and taking entire responsibility for the social aspects of growth, are the challenges that need to be taken up in order to harvest all the fruits of the new world era.
Readers are invited to study the OCED policy report which has already set out some of the key policy challenges for a New Global Age. These include the challenge to international organisations and bodies like the OECD. Some of these challenges are taken up by the publishers in numerous other texts which are worth studying. Details can be obtained from one of the five OECD Centres situated worldwide or on the OECD Website: www.oecd.org
