The Convergence of Economics, Politics, and Health as Globalization Moves into its New Era: 16 March 2020 G7 Leader's Statement

(Pix credit: G7 leaders issue statement acknowledging COVID-19 as 'human tragedy')

By now it has become clear that  COVID-19 is not another simple epidemic with respect to which health professionals occupy a central space.  Instead, and for reasons that will be teased out over the course of the next several months, COVID-19 has metastasized from a crisis of the health establishments, to one that, in its own way, has begun to copy the more comprehensive scope of the 2007 economic collapse. 

To speak to COVIS-19 as a mere health crisis no longer really reflects the reality of the crisis.  It has become, in its own way, a crisis of globalization.  More than the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, or the economic collapse of 2006, the 2020 COVID-19 epidemic will prove to be the space within which the strength of globalization, and of its institutions--meticulously developed over the last seventy years--will be tested.  

What is becoming clear, through the fog of policy and panic--as well as of the herd instinct that characterizes and diminishes value the administrative cultures on which human society now relies for its collective protection--what is becoming clear, is that COVID-19 is quickly becoming a space for the transformations of social, political, and economic space will occur.  Those transformations might not have been inevitable.  And yet that inevitability may well be built into the bones of the cultures of administration that have now come to characterize the apparatus of both public and private institutions.  Those cultures deepen as the basic premises of human organization--in Marxist-Leninist, liberal democratic, and theocratic systems--continue to align with respect to the ideal of the individual in the shadow of the state, and of the institution. 

None of this is a criticism of events or decisions.  How, effectively or reasonably, can one actually critique the inevitable?  One seeks ot understand it; one might regret the decisions made, now a generation or more ago, which made these trajectories unavoidable.  What is useful now is the extraction of the premises and habist of the new inevtable so that one can have a better sense of the way in which societies will manifest the arrangements within which order is maintained, resources allocated, and the individual embedded within insttituional frameworks. That is thw work that waits the end ogf the epidemic (in its current phase).

The G7 has provided us with hints about the trajectories for the movement forward.  The version, of course, is that of liberal democracy. The Marxist-Leninist and theocratic versions will be slightly different (with respect to language, cultural referent, and sources of authority, to be sure).  But they all point in the same direction.  

The G7 Leaders' Statement, distributed 16 March 2020 follows. It nicely conflates health, economic and political  policies, even as it seeks to manage the fundamental of globalization as the ordering framework within which crises like COVID-19 will be managed, and int he process society transformed.  To see into the future, then, one ought to quite carefully read the G7 statement.  Careful reading requires that one does not dismiss the Statement as propaganda, nor as sloganeering, and certainly not as bathos (though the temptation with respect to the last is almost overwhelming). Rather, the G7 Statement provides a sort of coded language of fear. Here one encounters fear: fear of instability, fear of a reversal of the trajectory of human progress, fear of the ability of institutions (including the state) to deliver a better life to its people in exchange for obedience and conformity, fear of anarchy (of order without a center), and fear of the reverse of a string center without order.

The conflation of the health of labor, and the development of productive forces, across global production chains, may appear to require the re-emergence of the state, not in and for itself, but as the institutional mechanism through which labor health is protected for the ultimate protection of global production chains (and thus, more indirectly, the welfare of labor whose welfare is a necessary predicate for the operation of the system as economics, as politics, and as culture. The "human tragedy" to which the G7 statement references, is not merely that of the loss of life--a bad enough consequence-, but rather its threat to the ways of life within which even the great powers now compete, that will be the most unsettling effect of this pandemic.

G7 Leaders’ Statement

We, the Leaders of the Group of Seven, acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic is a human tragedy and a global health crisis, which also poses major risks for the world economy.  We are committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure a strong global response through closer cooperation and enhanced coordination of our efforts.  While current challenges may require national emergency measures, we remain committed to the stability of the global economy.  We express our conviction that current challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic need a strongly coordinated international approach, based on science and evidence, consistent with our democratic values, and utilizing the strengths of private enterprise.
We are committed to marshalling the full power of our governments to:

• Coordinate on necessary public health measures to protect people at risk from COVID-19;
• Restore confidence, growth, and protect jobs;
• Support global trade and investment;
• Encourage science, research, and technology cooperation.

By acting together, we will work to resolve the health and economic risks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and set the stage for a strong recovery of strong, sustainable economic growth and prosperity.
Accelerate Our Response to COVID-19
We will work hard to protect the health and safety of everyone in our countries.  Stepping up the response to the outbreak remains our foremost priority.  We will coordinate our efforts to delay the spread of the virus, including through appropriate border management measures.
We will enhance our efforts to strengthen health systems in our countries and globally.  We fully support the World Health Organization in its global mandate to lead on disease outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences, leaving no geographical vacuum, and encourage all countries, international organizations, and the private sector to assist global efforts such as the Global Preparedness and Response Plan.
We stress the value of real-time information sharing to ensure access to the best and latest intelligence, improving prevention strategies and mitigation measures.
We will pool epidemiologic and other data to better understand and fight the virus.
We will increase coordinated research efforts, including through voluntary support for the global alliance Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation.  We will support the launch of joint research projects funded by both public and private resources, and the sharing of facilities, towards rapid development, manufacture and distribution of treatments and a vaccine, adhering to the principles of efficacy, safety, and accessibility.
We will make efforts to increase the availability of medical equipment where it is most needed.
We will coordinate with online platforms to maximize public access to the latest correct and relevant official information, in recognition that millions of citizens receive information and news via social media.
To implement these objectives, and adapt measures if necessary, will require efforts across all parts of our governments, and we ask our health ministers to continue to coordinate on a weekly basis.
Forcefully Address the Economic Impact of the Outbreak
We resolve to coordinate measures and do whatever it takes, using all policy tools, to achieve strong growth in the G7 economies, and to safeguard against downside risks.
To this end, we are mobilizing the full range of instruments, including monetary and fiscal measures, as well as targeted actions, to support immediately and as much as necessary the workers, companies, and sectors most affected.  This is particularly important for small and medium businesses and working families.
We also ask our central banks to continue to coordinate to provide the necessary monetary measures in order to support economic and financial stability, and to promote recovery and growth.
We ask our finance ministers to coordinate on a weekly basis on the implementation of those measures and to develop further timely and effective actions.
We reinforce the importance of coordination among international organizations even in the face of challenges to business continuity.  We call on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group and other International Organizations to further support countries worldwide as part of a coordinated global response, focused on this specific challenge.  We also ask our finance ministers to work closely with International Organizations to design and implement swiftly the international financial assistance that is appropriate to help countries, including emerging and developing economies, face the health and economic shock of COVID-19.
We will address disturbances to international supply chains and continue our work to facilitate international trade.
Restore and Expand Growth
We will continue to work together with resolve to implement these measures to respond to this global emergency.  In facing the economic challenge, we are determined not only to restore the level of growth anticipated before the COVID-19 pandemic but also to build the foundation for stronger future growth.  We will continue to coordinate through the G7 Presidency including at the G7 Leaders’ Summit and call upon the G20 to support and amplify these efforts.