Just as we invest 2% to 3% of our GDP in technological research and development, we should be putting say 1% of our GDP into social innovation, according to Geoff Mulgan, former director of policy for Tony Blair’s government, at a TED conference in July. The types of social innovation we should be investing in include elder care, new kinds of education, and new ways of helping the disabled, and perhaps we could achieve productivity gains in society similar to those we have achieved in the economy over the past few decades.
In the past we have set ourselves technological challenges like getting a man on the moon; perhaps now we should be setting ourselves social challenges like eliminating child malnutrition, stopping trafficking, or achieving 1 billion extra years of life for today’s citizens. To achieve these goals would require radical and systematic experimentation not just with technologies but also with lifestyles, culture, policies and institutions.
Capitalism is going to become more social. The central position of finance capital is going to come to an end. Unlike what you read in economics text books, capitalism is not a self-sufficient system. It depends on other systems – ecology, family, community. Human nature is not just selfish and competitive; it is also compassionate and caring.