Paradigm Shift
Paradigm Shift | The Debates
Season 2: Choices
Humans are hard-wired to adapt. The past few months have forced us to make quick changes out of necessity. These decisions will likely shape the way we live our lives for decades to come. But have we taken the time to ask ourselves whether we’re happy with the direction of travel? Or do we risk sleepwalking into a ‘new normal’ built out of panic rather than design.
Join us this fall for a series of debates exploring the potential long term consequences of our reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, as we ask whether or not the choices we make today may end up creating more problems than they’re solving.
The Debates
November 11
How should we measure prosperity?
In the wake of COVID wave #1, all eyes are on a quick return to growth as measured by our favorite economic yardstick, gross domestic product (GDP). But GDP isn’t without its flaws.
It fails to account for environmental costs, income inequality, individual well-being, and happiness. So as we reconstruct the global economy, is it time to look beyond GDP? Are there other ways of understanding and measuring economic health?
November 18
What would you pay to save the planet?
Saving the planet from the devastating effects of climate change won’t come cheap. By all estimates we need to invest $100 billion a year to cut emissions just to stand a chance of staying below the 1.5 degrees warming threshold. But if we don’t invest and make changes, the economic cost could range from $150 trillion to $792 trillion by 2100.
Everybody wants to save the planet. What will we choose to spend on it?
November 25
Does work still...work?
What is the future of work? You hear about it non-stop these days with the popularity of office optional and work from home alternatives—and the necessity of work places being flexible to function during the pandemic. But some jobs can’t be done offsite.
What will become of those workers in a digitally driven economy that is increasingly favoring those of us who can work from home?
