Moderation: another name for fresh opportunities

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 02 — It is the desire of every country to put its best foot forward, but in so doing, it must equip itself with welcome skills. Sectors that require priority must enjoy being on the national agenda, and public-private sector cooperation should come forth loud and clear.

While the positives outweigh the negatives, care should be taken to preserve the environment. Quality interaction is a guiding principle, but even in a knowledge-based economy, the human touch is a key factor.

One of the recognisable signs of the times today is undoubtedly migration, a phenomenon which seems to have taken on structural characteristics, becoming an important factor of the labour market worldwide, a consequence, among other things, of the enormous drive of globalisation. Naturally, in this "sign of the times," various factors play a part. Migration includes both national and international migration, forced and voluntary migration, legal and illegal migration. This phenomenon is also subjected to the scourge of trafficking in human beings.

If there is one word that sums up why the world economy is in such a mess, that word is "greed." From time immemorial, humans beings have craved to live beyond their means if they can and strive to get what they want no matter what, some by hook and others by crook.

The inability to control one's own wants lies at the root of all consumer excesses. Human wants, if left unchecked, become insatiable. Consumer satisfaction is fleeting, with more wants cropping up all the time, demanding something bigger or better. What's more, it's all wanted instantaneously.

With regard to economic migrants, a recent fact deserving mention is the growing number of women involved. In the past, it was mainly men who emigrated, although there were always women with them, accompanying their husbands or fathers.

Today, female emigration has become more and more autonomous as women cross the border of their homeland alone in search of work in another country. It often happens that the migrant woman becomes the principal source of income for her family.

It is a fact that the presence of women is especially prevalent in sectors that offer low salaries. Thus, women migrant workers are particularly vulnerable. The most common employment opportunities for women, other than domestic work, consists in helping the elderly, caring for the sick, and working in the hotel and hospitality sectors.

Economies recognise that human wants have no limits, while resources do. It follows that consumers will have to choose whatever comes within reach, based on their incomes and preferences or priorities, with prices playing a market-clearing role, thereby equating supply with demand.

Current income does not constrain current consumption, as the system allows consumers to consume based on anticipated future income. This is in fact very dangerous, as one is spending on credit all the time. The so-called permanent income hypothesis, based on the present value of future incomes, fuels the human desire for excessive consumption.

In the capitalist system, consumers are manipulated, even exploited, into buying certain goods and services by producers through advertisements and promotions. The fractional banking system and the fiduciary currency system permit excessive lending beyond the imagination of the average person. In the process, debts are packaged and sold in different forms and shapes, including the securitisation of debt.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women, flourishes where opportunities to improve their standard of living or to survive are limited. It becomes easy for the trafficker to offer his own services to the victims, who hardly suspect what awaits them. In some cases, there are women and girls who are destined to be exploited almost like slaves in their work, and quite often in the sex industry.

What has all this to do with the ongoing global financial crisis? Financiers play a key role in this game of production and consumption, riding high on human frivolity. Living perpetually on extended credit has become a way of life for millions. Seen in these terms, "moderation" should be the name of the game. Moderation in consumption is the key to economic stability.

Moderate consumer behaviour, free from all temptations, would ensure stable GDP growth.