Points to ponder; COVID-19 and economic growth vs. wellbeing

Sri Lanka is in the third month of the COVID-19 global revolution where we are now heading for a ‘new normal’, donning face mask whenever we step out and being more conscious than the past of our immunity, and hopefully our connection with the natural world, which we have ruined in the name of economic growth, development and modernity. 

Today let us look at the concept of wellbeing. To do that let’s begin with an example of a small country led by a young woman who last showed her strength of decision making in January 2019 when she introduced a national budget that focuses on wellbeing over a blind economic growth that becomes finally a gigantic monster. Is it a wonder that this country, has eliminated the COVID-19 threat from its land in a matter of weeks? No it is not. Because this country deviated from the world herd economic mentality of growth based obsession that sees poverty of some as normal.

We are talking about New Zealand and Jacinda Ardern who in 2019 put out a national budget where spending was centred upon what facilitates and promotes the well-being of all citizens. New Zealand thus moved away from some of the traditional concepts the world is now following by rote such as economic growth which beautifully exists in statistics while only a marginal section of people benefit from it and the much heralded trickle down is less than a drop. 

Thus, New Zealand last year emphasised on wellbeing; on having human beings living in that country housed, clothed, fed and happy as opposed to being threatened by a skewed economic growth that is blind to reality. This year New Zealand has not only combatted the COVID-19 virus that is rampaging the world, but as of Friday, 14 May, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered the 2020 budget speech focusing explicitly on the current backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While having listened to only a short segment of the 2020 budget speech, this writer has heard out the entire 2019 version by this remarkable stateswoman. Hence what was proposed last year was the pursuance of a genuine wellbeing where spending was directed to rectify the gaps in the traditional view that GDP alone is sufficient to measure success. Hence, there were five wellbeing goals introduced; improving mental wellbeing, reducing child poverty, supporting indigenous people, transitioning to low emission centred economy and flourishing in a digital age. 

Keeping in line with what was proposed last year, following are the words that PM Arden opened her 2020 budgetary speech with as she focused on post-lockdown realities of New Zealand: “As we now start our recovery, we have to be focused, we have to be decisive, we have to go into this period knowing that it will be tough but there is hope and there is possibility.”

Anyone who has read Amartya Sen who humanised economics will understand some correlation of New Zealand’s 2019 budget and Ardern’s success in combating COVID-19 one year later as well as focusedly humanising the economic impact of the pandemic in her 2020 speech. 

Now let us ponder … what is real economic growth? And what is true development? In an interview Daily FT published in 2018 with the eminent Sri Lankan ecologist Dr. Ranil Senanayake who gave the concept of analog forestry to the world, he was asked to comment on what he thinks of the current macro development trends in Sri Lanka.

Courtesy Daily FT we publish the answer he gave: “Total idiocy. Building a huge fossil dependent infrastructure that promotes the consumption of fossil and non-renewable resources as ‘development’ is the sign of ignorance of scientific realities. Politicians who are ignorant of modern trends and stuck in the development paradigm of the past, can only see the dreams of yesteryear. They do not care about the future that they create nor the human cost of living with the problems created by them. If full cost accounting was applied to these mega projects the illogic of these decisions will become obvious.”

It is not difficult to understand what Senanayake said in relation to what New Zealand recognised and took action towards; backed by years of economic research. Action against the inhumanity of poverty and environment abuse that was happening under the nose of economic growth which was swallowing up both humans and biodiversity with its concrete jaws. 

As we proceed into the unknown waters of COVID-19 new normal survival we certainly cannot paddle in oblivion anymore without examining starkly the way we lived our economic and consumerist centred pre-COVID-19 life and considered it ‘normal’ just as we considered it ‘normal’ for people to die of poverty and a host of sicknesses caused by lack of clean drinking water and chemical free food.  

(SV)