The Entertainment and Info Techs as Sherpas of Economic Recovery
Beatrice E Rangel
It took Lady Gaga three weeks of preparation; zero investment and the repetition of time old spiritual songs to launch an internet based concert that not only showcased the best talent in the world but reached 300 million people and raised $127 million over the course of two hours. And one wonders which politician could today accomplish such feat. The answer of course is none. Because most probably they all ignore the stats for the entertainment industry.
Indeed, PwC estimates the revenues for media and entertainment to reach $2.2 trillion by 2021. In contrast, global automotive industry’s 2019 sales reached $462 billion. Meanwhile global information technology industry was forecast to reach $5.2 trillion in 2020 before the outbreak of covid19. In short trillionaire industries are either tech based or entertainment based. And because they are customer oriented they will not only prevail but show the way out of covid19.
These are extremely good news in the realm of economic redeployment post covid19. Because these will be the wealth creators and the job providers for the generation that will take command of the US economy and those of emerging markets although the strength, degree and quality of the process in emerging markets will largely depend on their leadership quality. To be sure, leaderships like those seen in Singapore; Switzerland; the Scandinavian countries; El Salvador and Guatemala will most probably linked themselves to the development trend that will take hold once humanity conquers covid19, because these countries have built their response to the virus through two future oriented pillars. These are: reliance on technology and science to treat the menace; distributing the burden of the calamity evenly among all sectors of society. The first has triggered up and down stream innovation in traditional industries. Take El Salvador and Guatemala for instance: Artisans have reinvented themselves in the production of masks and protective robes for the first responders in hospitals, nursing homes and fire stations. Meanwhile in the rest of Central America braces to get whatever they can from importers engaged in price gauging to bring the essential objects from China. When the emergency ends, those artisans in El Salvador and Guatemala that successfully jumped on the opportunity to be useful while creating wealth will have the necessary trade finance platforms and links to Asian producers of textiles who will certainly become channels to place their traditional pieces in a new market. The second creates a sense of commitment among the population that increases the desires to abide by regulations while increasing the entertainment intake to best weather the calamity. Take the musicians of the world that have chosen to entertain for free all those citizens trapped in quarantine. In the process they have gained new fans while learning how to best deliver their product directly to client. Take the restaurants and small eateries in the Scandinavian countries that are mastering the art of anticipating orders; creating new dishes and delivering them to customers who are now popping back to their recently reopened economy. These establishments will bank for many years on the loyalty of customers that had a shining moment through their food while now being to manage inventories and reduce loss of inputs. Take the new approach to caring and following children and teenagers that Switzerland will deploy as a consequence of the system set in place to quarantine covid19infested citizens. All these countries will become leading economies.
Regretfully none of this is seen in the Americas where most countries are engaged in a battle to take over public treasuries to have governments pay for everything from masks to opportunity costs. In the US the battle focuses I the day that quarantines will end au lieu on the day that every citizen will be tested and how. In Latin America the overview truly is deplorable. From Mr Lopez Obrador who seems to be obsessed with the miraculous properties of the Blessings of Our Lady of Guadalupe while supporting expenditures in projects that were of dubious value before covid19 and now is simply an insured way to destroy wealth. Colombia is under paralysis and Argentina is banking on it agreement with China to exchange medical supplies for Soy. Brazil is yet to decide whether covid19 is a problem or not. These strategies of course all are the best approach to staying forever in the 20th century.
