The World ahead 2022

The World Ahead 2022

Presentation by Lilly Lilienblum

Tom Standage, Editor "The Economist" Dec 13th 2021

Structure

Content of the article

The 10 Theories of 2022

Two main theories

Discussion

Vocabulary

Content

1. Democracy vs autocracy

• China and America will vividly contrast their political system

• Which one is better ?

• reflected in various terms

"to rally" - Sich zu Versammeln

2. Pandemic to endemic

• New vaccines + improved antibody treatments

• in developed countries:

no longer life-threatening

• in poor countries:

will remain a deadly threat

"deadly threat"- Tödliche Bedrohung

3. Inflation worries

• Due to disruptions in supply chain + surge in energy demand -> prices to highest levels.

• Britain is particularly vulnerable to stagflation

"vulnerable" - Anfällig

4. The new techlash

• America + Europe spent years trying to intervene in the tech giants

• control their growth or their profits.

• "China has taken the lead"

• focussing on "deep tech"

• But will this boost Chinese innovation? Or kill the industry's dynamism?

"frivolous" - Leichtfertig

5. Crypto grows up

• brought in by regulators tightening up the rules

• Central banks want to introduce their own currencies

• three-way battle

"Currencies" - Währungen

6. Climate crunch

• glaring lack of urgency when it comes to climate change

• decarbonization requires cooperation between the West and China

• test the use of a high-altitude balloon

"lack of urgency" - mangelnde Dringlichkeit

7. Traveltrouble

• activity is picking up as the economy reopens

• half of business travel has already been permanently eliminated

• good for planet, bad for tourists

"subsidized" - Finanziell unterstützt

8. Space races

• paying people will be able to go into space

• China completes new space station

• film industry is wrestling

• NASA will crash a space probe into an asteroid

"wrestling" - ringen

9. The future of work

"may be hybrid" working

-many employees would like to work in a hybrid work model -optimal split for many: spending half of their working time in the office + the other half in the home office pro: -direct collaboration and personal exchange with colleagues + at the same time flexibility and a certain freedom contra: -people who stay at home might have disadvantages in terms of promotion, etc.-fear of surveillance over remote workers or tax regulations

"SURVEILLANCE" - ÜBERWACHUNG

10. Political footballs

Sport brings the world together BUT often ends up being a political thing

-24th Olympic Winter Games in Beijing from 4 to 20 February 2022 -several states don't send a representive ->"boycott"ex.: United States, Canada, Great Britain, Japan and AustraliaBut why?- China's authoritarian regime is accused of violating human rights - Especially against minorities such as the Muslim Uyghurs in the autonomous region of Xinjiang - also Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan are critizised - Problem: dichotomy between making a clear statement against human rights violations and not wanting to ban the athletes who have spent years for preparing - In Germany, a baycott will probably be opposed

"ACCUSED" - BESCHULDIGT

Questions

What other things might be coming up in 2022?

What is your opinion on focusing more on hybrid working?

How would you position yourselves regarding the boycott?

Sources

https://www.humanresourcesmanager.de/news/hybride-arbeitsmodelle-strategien-und-tipps.html https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/democracy-vs-autocracy-biden-inflection-point https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead?gclid=CjwKCAiA24SPBhB0EiwAjBgkhiNyvjBXWkT9OiBogxsLkyYFqyDA-E2Ph3iatfLc7fww031a3CjK2xoCVGMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds https://www.romaniajournal.ro/travel/space-perspective-planning-to-offer-worlds-first-luxury-spaceflight-experience-as-space-balloon-tourism-is-set-to-take-off/ https://newsrnd.com/tech/2022-01-09-from-pandemic-to-endemic--living-with-the-virus.BkXDUuOhK.html https://www.lplegal.com/content/navigate-hybrid-work-environment.html