Economy, inequality, health, sustainable employability Flashcards
What is the connection between economy, equality, environment and health?
Equality mainly based on the SES of a person
People with low SES live in areas with bad environmental conditions → therefore with bad health
HIV rates higher in low income areas
Bad mental health, stress and anxiety because of economic status
SES inequalities leads to bad wellbeing and health
Types of power: Political Power Purchasing Power Agenda Power Decision Power Value Power Event Power
-Political power(Boyce article)→ takes form of decision, agenda, value and event power
- Purchasing power (Boyce article) → cost-benefit analysis (willingness to pay is the foundation of it, different from ability to pay)
- Decision power – to determine what decision-makers (public & private) will or will not do
Agenda power – to keep questions either off or on the consideration of the decision makers
Value power – shape others’ preferences to coincide/happen together with one’s own
Event power – alter circumstances that others face
Why do we need conomic growth?
Creates jobs → more power to workers
New developed technologies
Makes society wealthier and stronger
More taxes → government invest more
The limits of economic growth?
Inequality increases → income gaps
Free market has limitations therefore → globalisation of market should be accompanied with globalisation of governance, limits of gov:
Market failure: in order to make some goods cheaper you have you push costs somewhere else, economists call this “ negative externalities”
Fairness: equitable distribution of goods
Resilience
Moral Capital: elevating narrowly conceived self-interests above other values
Why is the current economy not sustainable?
Economy is still profit-oriented because of capitalism thu companies are more focused on gaining profit than being sustainable
Economy that is not sustainable i’ll eventually outron from resources, thus growth wont last long
Those who are rich and wealthy will gain disproportionate benefits from the economy that degrades the environment, while the poor ones will gain disproportionate costs.
- The current economy sees environmental quality as means to an end - economic growth, anthropocentric view
- Economic activities generate environmental harm, with one group usually posing it on another
- In a market economy, people vote on what to produce in proportion to the money they spend - “effective demand”
- The accumulated wealth is only returning to the top 1%
- The current economy is unequal and can cause societies to erupt; wars, pandemics, and is vulnerable to other cumulative shocks
- Economic expansion can contribute to CC and increase in zoonotic viruses, ending in pandemics that consequently impact the economy
- “optimal level of pollution” - weighing costs and benefits
- The costs of environmental harms are measured by how much people are willing to pay
to avoid them - The relatively wealthy and powerful tend to benefit disproportionately from the economic activities that generate environmental harm
- The total magnitude of environmental harm depends on the extent of inequality
What are inequality and inequity? And what are their causes?
Unequal distribution of power and resources - including goods, services and societal attention that manifests through economic, social and environmental inequality that are also defined as determinants of health. Causes: Absence of sanitation in urban areas Workplaces with incidents The Industrial revolution moved people from poverty of land to poverty of industrial capitalism, limiting them from clean air and water into dense and disease-prone urban environments. Child labour Catastrophic events Lack of clean water Abuse of alcohol Bad nutrition
IIH: the higher the income inequality in a high income society, the higher the health and social problems
What are Externalities?
An externality is a cost or benefit caused by a producer that is not financially incurred or received by that producer. An externality can be both positive or negative and can stem from either the production or consumption of a good or service.
examples:
CO2 emission, from the perspective of the workers- burnout, human loss in factories that are not safe
Indeed, industrialization and the attendant problems of ill health have found new purchase in the industrializing heartlands of low- to middle-income countries, where regulation and public health measures are either absent or less burdensome on business. Markets continue to exclude those living in poverty from adequate sanitation, medical treatment, clean air and water.
We pollute ground water, the oceans and the planetary atmosphere on a scale that dwarfs the nineteenth century (Hansen, 2016). These externalities are ubiquitous. They are products of the following: particular social relations of production; modes of production that degrade the environment and the human subject; and arise from skewed accumulation and inequality.
How can we evolve to a sustainable and fair Economy?
We can have a healthy environment, and bequeath one to future generations, by respecting nature’s limits and investing in nature’s wealth. Achieving these goals does not only require rebalancing our relationships with nature. It will also require rebalancing our relationships with our fellow humans.
To solve the ecological problem and to save this planet we should quit this idea of growth and find a “sweet spot” where humanity is thriving with the planet
Using inspiration of the other civilisation
And Knowledge centralised by informatic to find new solutions for the planet and the economy maybe the donut idea could be an answer
What is the New Green Deal Europe?
The European Green Deal is a general commitment of the European Commission to implement cross-sectoral measures covering energy, transport, agriculture, finances, public participation and many more policy areas. It could unleash Europe’s hidden potential to improve population health and wellbeing, while ensuring climate and environmental sustainability at the same time.
The European Green Deal is a general commitment of the European Commission to implement cross-sectoral measures covering energy, transport, agriculture, finances, public participation and many more policy areas. It could unleash Europe’s hidden potential to improve population health and wellbeing, while ensuring climate and environmental sustainability at the same time.
10 pillars:
- reduce temperature
- drive the economic and ecological transformation
- empowering citizens
- guaranteeing decent jobs
- raising the standards of living
- entrenching inequality
- investing in the future
- ending ‘ever-growing’ economies
- support climate justice
- committing to action
Reaching this target will require action by all sectors of our economy, including
● investing in environmentally-friendly technologies
● supporting industry to innovate
● rolling out cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of private and public transport
● decarbonising the energy sector
● ensuring buildings are more energy efficient
● working with international partners to improve global environmental standards
What is IIH?
income inequality hypothesis (IIH): the higher the income inequality in a high-income society, the greater the health and social problems in the society
Describe the Rise of neoliberal theory
What are the 3 measures that define it?
escape stagflation by reducing budget deficits, opening markets, stimulating free trade, and reducing public expenditure
3 main measures:
Financialisation
increasing trade in financial products, rather than “real” goods and services - relying on high-risk investments by banks, rather than on industries that produce real goods and services, or develop new technologies
Privatisation
transferring ownership of public services to the private sector
Austerity
cuts in public expenditure during difficult economic periods to reduce budget deficits
Is Neoliberal economic policy good or bad?
IMF loans has worsen the impact of economic crises on people’s health, without leading to quicker economic recovery
IMF had admitted that “ we underestimate the negative effect of austerity on employment and spending power”
Conclusion: Government expenditure on social policy and healthcare does not harm but help economic recovery and growth
Why does the IMF still continue its policy with loans and conditionalities → interests (political and financial) AND the dominance of neoliberal ideology
Some Alternatives/ Pathway towards sustainable economies?
Investment (new “New Deal”)
Redistribution (taxation, social policy, basic income)
New ideologies? Reestablishing common goods and value
Covid offers both challenges and opportunities
What are work-related health issues
Communicable diseases
Transportation accidents
Workplace violence
Toxic chemical and gas exposure
Hearing loss
Getting struck by objects
Electrocution and explosion
Repetitive motion and ergonomic injuries
Working population is ageing
More health issues arise → older generation are more prone to health issues
Mental health depletion
Managing, organisational roles → stress-related (mental) positions
Mismatch between work demand and employee’s capabilities
Low income employees;
Little difference in occupation changes
how do work related issues they differ/compare for lower and higher-skilled employees?
- The less educated are less motivated to get training, regard self-development as less important
- They are less mobile across jobs-> less experience; their career paths are limited to the internal market and at risk of being automatized
- They are more likely to get stuck in routine jobs, they seem to lack resources and capabilities to redesign their own job -> more vulnerable employability;
Studies have shown that less educated employees are relatively often in temporary jobs with little job security and that, on average, less educated employees tend to be less healthy and more likely to have chronic disorders that have a detrimental effect on their employability.
- higher skilled employees: often stress, burnouts, etc.
