Opening of the conference

The financial crisis and its consequences, the growing discourse on the sustainability of capitalism and the market economy, as well as the challenge to secure welfare and prosperity also for aging and shrinking societies force us to question the future viability of our economic systems. And that is exactly what we are going to do together.

Future and Sustainability

The future is the time that follows the present. So it’s about tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that. Statements about the future are always based on the current position – we should never forget that! But do we really always know if this position is the right one? From this current position, three approaches for the future appear possible:

• Pragmatic perspectives in the future;
• Empirical extrapolations into the future;
• Imaginations, i.e. utopian designs of future realities.

Whichever approach we choose:

•  The future starts with the viewpoint!
• The future is only viable for the future if it is sustainable throughout its entire projection cycle!

But what exactly does «sustainable» mean? I would like to define this for you once more, as an important basis for this conference. Ultimately, this term was coined by former Norwegian Prime Minister Brundtland. In 1987, she chaired a report on the sustainable development of our world for the United Nations. And in this report, it says: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Economic Systems

• Economic systems comprise the economic elements and their actors – primarily private and public households as well as enterprises, and their control over the means for production and consumption.
• Add to that economic relation, i.e. production, distribution, and consumption processes in and among the business entities.
• After all, the economic order resulting from the interaction of the actor’s forms part of an economic system.
• Economic systems are strongly influenced by interdependencies with other social subsystems – especially by political, social, and legal, but also ecological systems.
• It is precisely these correlations that we want to discuss with you in Engelberg this year with a view to their future viability.

It follows that economic systems are far more than systems for supplying people with goods and services. They penetrate people’s lives and shape their future prospects – in both their private and professional lives. Future, sustainable economic systems are characterized by the fact that they can handle the major global challenges of the future:

• Climate change
• The finite nature of resources
• Demographic change
• Increasing global inequality

• The economic systems of the future must therefore be inclusive, not exclusive. They must not play off the interests of the people living today against those of future generations.
• A sustainable future economic system must not least also meet the changing needs of people as a result of demographic change.

About the role played by youth

It seems unnecessary to emphasize the fact that today’s youth will be the ones to ultimately determine what our future economic life will look like or how it will be designed. That is why it is important to involve this generation now and to give it an audible voice now. Some of the 30 young scientists – 12 students, to be precise – specifically prepared for this conference during our traditional Summer School, lead by Professor David Stadelmann, at SIGA’s training center in Ruswil in early July. I am particularly eager to hear your reflections on Thursday morning.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you an exciting stay in Engelberg until Friday afternoon, with many unexpected suggestions and many new, but also old, contacts.

I declare our 14th Dialogue on Science open!