Overcoming the crisis: Does the market economy have a future? Possibilities for making developed and developing market economies more ethical

The 2010 Salzburg Trilogue will explore a new economic order that is no longer based on long-term growth, but on increasing economic and social participation and reducing the environmental footprint. This requires recognizing the ethical limits to growth, redefining ideas of progress and prosperity and, according to many experts, placing a greater focus on non-material sources of wellbeing.  

At the invitation of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and Austria’s Foreign Ministry, leading decision makers from the business, political, social and cultural spheres will come together from August 20 to 22 at the 2010 Salzburg Trilogue in Salzburg, Austria.  Moderated by former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, the event’s discussions will examine how the globe’s market economies can be made more ethical, a topic that builds on discussions held in past years. At the 2009 Salzburg Trilogue, for example, participants identified market failings -- i.e. the focus on growth at the expense of the common good -- as the key driver behind our current global crises.   

A key concern of the 2010 Salzburg Trilogue will therefore be to look for approaches that enable both mature and developing market economies to move beyond purely quantitative growth divorced from its social and environmental costs. In particular, participants will consider which factors can foster qualitative growth. Based on prior discussions with experts in the Black Sea region and in Singapore and on recent findings by the Tällberg Foundation and the Millennium Project, the following issues will be investigated:

• Future of the growth paradigm. How can we resolve the dilemma that quantitative growth is not sustainable, but a decrease in growth can lead to economic dislocations and social unrest? Which type of growth do we want and need to ensure prosperity?
• Future of gross domestic product (GDP). Which indicators are needed to measure growth and prosperity in a way that goes beyond conventional metrics, i.e. GDP?
• Future of the market-based political order. Which legal frameworks and background conditions are necessary for ensuring sustainable development?

Some 30 guests from 15 countries, including five current foreign ministers from the Black Sea region, are expected to attend. Other participants will include Dr. Stefan Bergheim (Center for Social Progress), Michael Best (ARD), Peter Blom (Triodos), Victor Chu (FirstEastern Investment Group), Bo Ekman (Tällberg Foundation),  Dr. Wolfgang Ruttensdorfer (OMV), Werner Wutscher (RWE) und Pascal Lamy (WTO).

The organizers hope to use the 2010 Salzburg Trilogue to bring new momentum to the concept of the social market economy (Germany’s postwar economic model) and to promote sustainable development.