time and marker

In business, measuring and knowing “how things are going” at a given time allows us to know if operations are on the right track or if deviations have arisen, then identify causes and improve them so they don’t happen again. .

And right now, when we visualize the enormous amount of things happening in the world in real time, we can undoubtedly confirm that we are experiencing a global cycle change, both economically and socially; great challenge for everyone.

We seem to be unaware that we are doing daily measurement of the evolution of covid in Spain and around the world, with any data on intensive care unit occupancy, deaths, new infections, new waves or risk of collapse. the health system, society as a whole, and a new situation in which the media shifts attention to other issues. There are still many infections, but thanks to vaccines, the level of risk has been incredibly reduced.

Humanity has managed to suppress the most important pandemic of the last century, and it is worthy of recognition and satisfaction. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved in Spain and millions around the world, thanks to the cooperation of many countries with protocols, vaccination, research and health services. Thanks again to all of them and especially to the staff (doctors, nurses, assistants, ambulances and researchers) who are the true heroes of this dramatic experience.

Although it may seem like we haven’t had time to enjoy this “back to normal” due to a combination of new challenges and obstacles that have emerged in the last six months.

Supply and logistics problems, the incredible exponential increase in energy, the reintroduction of the concept of inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rise in interest rates or the increase in the debts of countries are almost all of them. We study economics and business at the university of our choice. These are concepts that affect the field of macroeconomics and logically have a downward impact on microeconomics, affecting both companies and public institutions, as well as families and society as a whole.

I won’t talk about each of these today (I’ve already referred to “threats and opportunities” in the articles on Environment) but I’ll talk about how I interpret the results.

First of all, I am one of those who think that the thing we have lived for about 25 years and that we call globalization is now over. And I explain. Of course, we continue to live in a world where “everything” is closer, digitalization makes it possible to have real-time information about what is happening in the world, and operations can be carried out extremely quickly. What changes radically is the “photo”.

That photo where the world production center will focus on China due to low salary costs, low transportation and logistics costs, and speed in their distribution. What we’ve been used to for all these years is now over. None of these three variables that make this paradigm livable exist today and will not come back. In the short term, this amounts to “confusion” because we are passing through a bottleneck that affects both final consumers and consumers, where certain raw materials or finished products do not reach the markets until markets and companies react and solutions are implemented. Manufacturers and their own production.

The most positive aspect of this is that countries (and the European Union) will decide not to “absolutely” depend on imports, and therefore huge industrial investments will be produced in Europe to further increase production capacity. closer action radius. This will generate much more industrial activity and, above all, mean the creation of many new jobs. The symbol of the “factory of the world” is falling apart at great speed, and this semi-monopoly will disappear.

On the other hand, the developments in the energy field will mean that the speed of implementation of renewable energies will increase. The sharp rise in prices with the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a cocktail that Europe will draw a clear conclusion from.

The almost complete dependence on imported energy is a major weakness, and it makes sense to interpret that deadlines for CO2 reductions will be cut radically if we include key components of commitments to climate change. This will be very good for society, planet and earth… But as this new paradigm shift takes place, we have to face faith and a positive inner vision day by day.

Surprisingly in the future, Spain will be an energy exporter to Europe and will have an important source of income thanks to renewable energies. An inexhaustible resource, clean and efficient. We are the country with the most sunshine per year in Europe and we are more advanced than other countries of the European Union in the application of renewable energies, although their specific gravity is still less important.

Finally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine assumes a unity of action unprecedented in the European Union until the advent of the pandemic, and it means enormous potential and power for the future. China’s passivity presupposes a US-led reinforcement through NATO, where the European Union has become, with Biden’s permission, a secondary to almost mainstream actor. The power of the European Union, which until recently was almost gone, is slowly emerging. We hope it will consolidate as it is in the Union.