Adam Tooze: It is much more difficult than ever to raise children in affluent societies

Adam Tooze, a professor at Columbia University, spoke about a new economic justice in turbulent times at an event at the 7th Delphi Economic Forum.

“The pandemic has taught us some lessons that in a strange way lead to the parity of generations,” said Adam Tooze. What will they receive in return? Where will social justice be seen? If you look at the labor market, the problem is at the entrance, especially in saturated labor markets such as Greece or Spain. It is youth unemployment that is scandalous. “The problem of poverty is mainly focused on children and young parents, especially mothers. That is the problem. It is much more difficult than before to raise children in rich societies. It is surprisingly difficult for new families.”

Commenting on the changes that have taken place and whether they are reversing globalization, Adam Tooze said: “I think we are talking about globalization reform and not de-globalization. If you think about the supply chain. If Germany, for example, is serious about decoupling from Russian gas, it should build LNG terminals, so we are not talking about de-globalization. “Polluted groupings, we can see much closer ties of states – it is something we have seen in history. If you think about how the relations between the states were rearranged after the Second World War, even of Greece, in the time of the Marshall Plan”.

Adam Tooze also spoke of crises that could erupt due to rising food and fuel prices. “Fragile developing countries now face a triple threat. Rising food costs, rising energy costs and rising interest rates. Some countries like Tunisia or Sri Lanka look very fragile, running out of diesel for a country that works.” “With generators this is catastrophic. This could give birth to a new refugee crisis.”

Finally, when asked about neoliberalism and whether it has been historically outdated, Adam Tooze replied, “It’s not attractive. It does not inspire anyone. But what comes after neoliberalism? It could be a nationalist, authoritarian abuse of power. It is not so much an answer.” as much reflection “.