A Renewed Equation between State, Market and Society is Needed to Build a New Development Pattern in the Region

The Secretary of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, Luis Videgaray Caso, and the renowned Italian economist and Professor of the University of Sussex (United Kingdom) Mariana Mazzucato highlighted today in Mexico ECLAC’s proposal for building a new development pattern in the region, based on a renewed State-market-society equation, during the fourth day of the thirty-sixth session being held in the Mexican capital.

The proposal of the United Nations regional organization is part of the institutional position document entitled Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development, which was presented this Thursday by ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, in a session presided by Claudia Ruiz Massieu, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

The senior international official explained its main guidelines to the authorities of the Commission’s member and associate countries. This guidelines point to reduce the economic, social and environmental imbalances that affect the region today in order to achieve development based on equality and sustainability.

“The dominant development pattern is unsustainable. We are undergoing a change of era, with profound tectonic changes that humanity has not been able to absorb in full. That is why our proposal is to make a structural change on the basis of a big environmental push,” Alicia Bárcena said during her presentation.

Bárcena said that the region has fallen behind in many areas, with a reduced growth that does not exceed 2% in recent decades; commercial trade that has its worst performance in eight decades, little physical investment in human capital and in research and development, and a dormant external vulnerability. In addition, structural imbalances persist, such as a scantily diversified productive structure, a delay in the effort and performance of innovation; sustained poverty and income concentration, and high vulnerability to climate change.

“To confront these challenges, we propose a progressive structural change that increases the incorporation of knowledge in the economies. New coalitions, new institutions and public-private alliances are required. It is about changing the conversation,” ECLAC’s Executive Secretary said.

“Our proposal for a new development pattern is political, not technical. The horizon is equality, the progressive structural change is the path and Politics, the instrument,” Bárcena added.

In his remarks on the document Horizons 2030, Mexico’s Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Luis Videgaray Caso, said that his country’s government has “enormous coincidences” with the diagnosis presented by the report.

“For example, we agree with ECLAC that climate change is the biggest market fault in history. This presents various opportunities and challenges. The biggest one is to use equality as an instrument to grow. We must grow to be more equal and be more equal to grow,” Videgaray said.

Mexican Secretary of Finance said that in Latin America and the Caribbean it is necessary to advance towards a market economy where competition and the law of supply and demand are encouraged. He said that in face of the current big challenges, only the economies that allocate resources in a more efficient way will be winners in the XXI century. “We should make our markets more open, so that there is competition, and more inclusive, so that all the population receives its benefits,” he added.

“I congratulate ECLAC and Alicia Bárcena for this extraordinary document, which deserves a deep analysis of all its subjects and must lead us to promote equality in the region,” Videgaray stated.

On her part, economist and Economy Professor of Economics of Innovation at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex (United Kingdom), Mariana Mazzucato, called ECLAC’s document “visionary”, considering that it presents very provocative and innovative ideas on the different types of policies and the role of the diverse players to foster development.

In her presentation, Mazzucato discussed the three “efficiencies” that the publication addresses (the Schumpeterian, on the role of entrepreneurship and innovation; Keynesian, on the expansion of aggregate demand and the role of active fiscal public policies; and environmental, to generate growth with less carbon production) and said that these proposals place ECLAC at the forefront of international economic debate.

The renowned economist defended the role of the State in the generation of public policies and in guarding against failures that could be created by the market, as well as in encouraging alliances with the private sector.

“As ECLAC says in its document, we need to foster inclusive growth and new dynamic public-private associations. New contracts must be generated, a new relation between both sectors,” Mazzucato said.

ECLAC’s publication will be at the core of the debates of the high-level seminar “Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development,” which will take place in the framework of the thirty-sixth session this Thursday, May 26 and Friday, May 27. The seminar will be attended by ministers and authorities of Finance, Economy, Planning, Energy, Trade, Social Development and Foreign Affairs from 13 region’s countries.

The complete program of ECLAC’s meeting is available on the Web site: ://periododesesiones.cepal.org/36/en/programme.

You can follow all the details of the meeting on social media using the hashtags #Horizontes2030 and #Horizons2030.

More information:

• Presentation of ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena.
• Video of the session on the high-level seminar Horizons 2030 on May 26.
• Complete document. Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development
• Web Site. Thirty-sixth session of ECLAC

For questions related to press coverage, contact:
 

María Luisa Díaz de León, Public Information Official, ECLAC’s Subregional Headquarters in Mexico. E-mail: marialuisa.diaz@cepal.org; Telephone: (52 55) 41705665. Cell Phone: (5255) 5416 9297.

Félix Ibáñez, Officer-in-Charge of ECLAC’s Public Information Unit. E-mail: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56) 22210 2040. Cell Phone: (569) 7 967 8306.