Читать книгу The Post Pandemic Economy - William E. Scholz - Страница 16

Those with data possess power, and those without data are economically disadvantaged in the 21st century Economy. The economy of the 20th and early 21st century is an economy deeply entrenched in a power struggle between the "haves" and the "have-nots."

In the real economy, the "have-nots" are workers, men and women producing real goods and services that form the backbone of the economy. While Finance generates efficiencies in global aggregates, an important responsibility, the most important responsibility is the frontline worker delivering basic goods and services to Americans. The coronavirus has taught us this lesson over and over again.

In addition to the economic disadvantaging of the American worker, other groups of workers are disadvantaged due to local power struggles and political upheaval. For example, do you know that in the developing world, women are largely the backbone producers within their local economies? Yet women receive a significantly less share of profit, in the form of wages and social status, than their male counterparts [4].

The same can be said for local economies. Local economies in small to medium-sized cities have experienced economic decline in the global economy for the last forty years. While global trade creates its own disadvantages for smaller, regional producers, local economies do not possess enough economic data to compete with larger producers.

Each day, The Wall Street Journal, and countless data aggregation services publish stock market and related data to inform the world's economy. However, smaller businesses are not required, nor have the capacity, to provide daily updates to their stakeholders or shareholders. Facilitating increased data collection for smaller producers cannot be a matter of regulation. Smaller producers cannot afford the increased burden of reporting.

The power of economic data cannot be understated. Economic data provides a common language for investors and other stakeholders to understand the health of the firm and subsequently the shape of the regional economy. For example, local municipalities in most regions do not possess an understanding of aggregate food production, the network of suppliers, and worker production. Most importantly, local economies do not understand data surrounding labor surpluses and shortages outside of national projections and models that cannot account for the specific contours of place.

Economic data is a key component of economic fairness, equality, and putting the American and Global worker first! Economic data also drives competition by increasing the transparency of firm-level production and performance. It is no surprise that in regional economies with little economic data, firm-level performance suffers greatly.

Data must be privatized. Currently, the responsibility of data handling between the Federal Government and private sector are confused. The Federal Government interprets data based on the political whims of unelected agency and bureau assistant directors. One year a department might focus on collecting and interpreting specific economic data related to a specific initiative. This data soon falls by the wayside even when a niche group of economic actors has grown to rely on the data.

For example, women textile producers in Ghana need a constant update as to the supply of local materials due to increased shortages. They cannot view textile material prices or see a list of suppliers due to both a lack of Internet connectivity and a lack of economic data. They have no recourse but to stop production or under-produce, not utilize their excess capacity.

As more local producers in all Countries are empowered, through increased small business capital, venture development efforts, and new opportunity, local data collectors must rise to meet the occasion. Local municipalities or non-profit economic organizations do not have the capacity to complete an ongoing economic assessment. They do not have the intellectual capacity for the focused resources to do so, no matter how many local, non-profit economic development organizations attempt to do this. Data always falls by the wayside. Initiatives always collapse under their own weight.

Private firms must create new data markets for local and regional producers and Governments that have the capacity of data collection that is currently underway in global economies. Economic data can provide the foundation for a renewed local economy and subsequently opportunity for the independent American worker, small business, and entrepreneur.

Data must be improved at all levels. Many recognize the shortcomings of national and international data measures, especially measures such as Gross Domestic Product. GDP, for example, fails to capture the productive efforts of women and minority-led businesses. How can we improve economic data collection?

The most consequential change that can be made to economic data, and one that is ultimately led by the private sector, is to make economic data collection a real-time and integrated process. Stock market data collection, for example, is driven by real-time transactional data, trades in the stocks or commodity's share price. Smaller producers do not have tradeable share volumes on international exchanges. However, smaller producers can report regularly on basic accounting or performance functions such as website traffic, percent delta in sales, profit, or other firm-level margins, or expenses.

Small businesses in advanced economies are already reporting this information anyway. By making this data publicly available, perhaps anonymously or as a mechanism to inform performance to stakeholders, local and regional producers could become more competitive with one another and regional stakeholders could aggregate vital information about the local economy.

Similarly, National Governments must also change their data collection capacity. Rather than a Government, project-based approach, the private sector must step into collect and aggregate real-time data. Substantial reforms must occur at the Office of the United States Census that include collection and monitoring outsourcing, and improved data interpretation software.

The coronavirus's timing, during a Census year, has laid bare the United States’ outmoded data collection efforts. Data collection is the foundation of healthy commercial trade and must be radically improved as a high agenda item in the coming decade.