First, Ease of Living

Context: In the wake of the pandemic, the health of the business and economy do require immediate attention, but it should not be at the expense of societal well-being.

Weaknesses revealed by COVID-19: 

• Social Weaknesses: Loss of professional ethics by placing the needs of business owners above public service

• Doctors prescribing unnecessary tests and medicine to the patients.
• Journalists losing the purpose of their profession and bowing down to the numbers of TRPs and advertising revenues.

• Compromised Healthcare: Problems in coping up with the Pandemic as the crisis was too large and too sudden.

• Deep Fissures in Economics: Economists are debating over the type of economies: whether to have a “Free market” economy or the one putting human needs at the apex. 

Way Forward: Reorientation of economics 

• Identifying the exceptions of a free market: 

• Free market does provide open competition, but not all spheres of life are best to run on a market model E.g. Medicine, science, education and art.
• The purpose of such professionals should not be to achieve a greater profit for shareholders.

• Strengthening healthcare: 

• Countries with stronger public health systems like Vietnam have done well in handling pandemic when compared with large and developed economies like the US.
• Countries with social safety nets like those in Scandinavia seem to be managing crises better than countries having no social security like India.

• Putting “Ease of living” before “Ease of doing business”: Societal well-being must be the goal of economic policies, not the size of GDP.
• Rebuilding Mission, Standards, and Identity- the 3 fundamental structures of professional institutions.

• Mission: The dominant view of “the business of business must be an only business” should be negated with proper social orientation, unselfish.
• Standards: Maintained high standards through the inclusion of voluntary determined standards by the professional in their conduct, for E.g. Hippocratic Oath can be remodeled. 
• Identity: As it comprises of a person’s values and traits, professionals would introspect the purpose of their lives and the purpose of the enterprise they serve.

• Role of Business organizations: they must reform their associations to not mere push for ease of doing business but also regulate the conduct of their members.

Quote on achieving a balance between Society and Economics: 

• “We are not against the market-based economy, but market-based society”- French PM Lionel Jispen.