When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
eyes on the U.S.

Welcome To Our New Economic World Order: The Silicon Valley Consensus

The dominant economic idea used to be to cut all barriers to capital flows, the so-called Washington Consensus. But since the 2008 financial collapse, the tech industry's hold on global consumption rules the day, and anything impeding it is considere

Uber founder Travis Kalanick
Uber founder Travis Kalanick
Pablo Maas

-Commentary-

BUENOS AIRES Remember Washington Consensus? It was the theory in vogue in the 1990s, espousing the need to deregulate and privatize economies, from Argentina to New Zealand, in the name of economic efficiency and market superiority.

The Great Recession of 2008 has swept away a good portion of this intellectual structure. Companies the size of General Motors and Citibank have had to be rescued by those nation states that were supposed to be outdated and receding, both in Europe and the United States. The idea of "too big to fail" imposed itself — a term hitherto absent in the Washington Consensus glossary.

It seemed that bankruptcy procedures — the dungeon of capitalism — did not apply to inefficient, over-indebted and poorly run companies. No, rather they were sent to the protective embrace of governments of any ideological hue. Thus marked the end of the famous consensus.

The pivot of a new consensus has now shifted from the East Coast to California's Silicon Valley, the cradle of the tech industry. The rise and expansion of digital economy giants (Google, Facebook, Amazon) have collided with the old economy and its rules, from copyright norms to privacy rights. This time, though, calls for deregulation are not in the name of economic efficiency but of technological advance, which is basically being touted as a natural force that it would be futile to oppose.

Internet giants present themselves as benevolent. They are not just businesses. They are here to save the world, end hunger or give work to millions of people — as in the so-called "sharing economy." Just a few days ago, the digitial car-service Uber, now operating in 80 cities, was re-valued at $40 billion. The company owns no automobiles, though lobbying to persuade city authorities to allow its operation in dozens of cities doesn't come cheap.

Europe is currently at the forefront of regulating new tech services, beginning with its ruling that people have a "right to be forgotten" on the Internet. Brussels is mulling proposals on a kind of Google tax.

In our Latin American region, Brazil prefers storing its citizens' Big Data inside its own national borders. In Argentina, the debate on such questions is just beginning. While Uber itself in just the past week has been banned in Spain, Thailand and India.

The Silicon Valley Consensus is firmly in command, but already has its first dissenters.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Ideas

Turkey: The Blind Spot Between Racial And Religious Discrimination

Before the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, a social media campaign in Turkey aimed to take on anti-Arab and anti-refugee sentiment. But the campaign ultimately just swapped one type of discrimination for another.

photo of inside Istanbul's Eminonu New Mosque

Muslims and tourists visiting Istanbul's Eminonu New Mosque.

Levent Gültekin

-Analysis-

ISTANBUL — In late September, several pro-government journalists in Turkey promoted a social media campaign centered around a video against those in the country who are considered anti-Arab. The campaign was built around the idea of being “siblings in religion,” and the “union of the ummah,” or global Muslim community.

(In a very different context, such sentiments were repeated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the Israel-Hamas war erupted.)

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

While the goal is understandable, these themes are highly disconnected from reality.

First, let's look at the goal of the campaign. Our country has a serious problem of irregular migrants and refugees, and the administration isn’t paying adequate attention to this. On the contrary, they encourage the flow of refugees with policies such as selling citizenship.

Worries about irregular migrants and refugees naturally create tension in the society. The anger that targets not the government but the refugees has come to a point which both threatens the social peace and brought the issue to hostility towards the Arabs, even the tourists. The actual goal of this campaign by the pro-government journalists is obvious if you consider how an anti-tourist movement would hurt Turkey’s economy.

However, as mentioned above, while the goal is understandable, the themes of the “union of the ummah” and “siblings in religion” are problematic. The campaign offers the idea of being siblings in religion as an argument against the rising racism towards irregular migrants and refugees; a different form of racism or discrimination.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest