Work and education
I read an article with Jack Ma (Ma Yun), Alibaba's founder, that our education system has to change because the robots will handle a lot of routine work in the future and I have to agree with that statement.
Much of what is learned today is aimed to an increasingly shrinking labor market and we must realize that many of them growing up today will not work in "traditional" professions. A good example is the automotive industry that, according to this website, increased its production efficiency by 50% between 1980 and 2009. Another example is the airline industry where booking, check-in and luggage handling, all were handled manually 10 years ago. Today this is almost always done by the traveler himself.
So what should everyone do for a living in the future?
I do not think we can find work for all and it is already apparent when looking at youth employment rates in Finland and other EU countries, where statistics show that about every fifth youth was unemployed in 2016. The healthcare sector will continue to expand as the age structure changes and there will be a larger number of older people people with larger need for service. Younger people will probably also need more care due to obesity and lack of exercise.
But everybody doesn't want to or can work in the healthcare sector, and moreover, this is mostly funded through governmental budgets. How will these funds be generated if we don't have a large working middle class that can be taxed? Citizens' wages is a fine thought, but how should the money be generated? One thing is clear, an individual country or region can not tax capital. If someone raises corporate or capital taxes then they move to a state or region with lower taxes.
We have seen this in countless examples recent years; Luxembourg a few years ago, Panama documents in 2016, Ireland and now last The Netherlands as late as the end of 2017, where they reduced their corporate tax significantly in order to attract big business.
One solution could be a decision from the G20 countries not to do business with countries that attract companies by offering lower taxation.
Shipping companies operates according to the same principles; Those countries who offer lower costs get larger merchant fleets and others gets fewer ships under their flag. A good example is that Swedish shipping companies for quite a while have been time flagging vessels to the e.g. Faroe Islands (!), which have an international shipping register.
Now, the trend has shifted in Sweden because of the implementation of so-called tonnage taxation as of January 1, 2017, and it is now seen that some shipping companies are flags back their vessels.
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Anchor outside Åland's seafarer school
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So what should everyone do for a living in the future?
I do not think we can find work for all and it is already apparent when looking at youth employment rates in Finland and other EU countries, where statistics show that about every fifth youth was unemployed in 2016. The healthcare sector will continue to expand as the age structure changes and there will be a larger number of older people people with larger need for service. Younger people will probably also need more care due to obesity and lack of exercise.
But everybody doesn't want to or can work in the healthcare sector, and moreover, this is mostly funded through governmental budgets. How will these funds be generated if we don't have a large working middle class that can be taxed? Citizens' wages is a fine thought, but how should the money be generated? One thing is clear, an individual country or region can not tax capital. If someone raises corporate or capital taxes then they move to a state or region with lower taxes.
We have seen this in countless examples recent years; Luxembourg a few years ago, Panama documents in 2016, Ireland and now last The Netherlands as late as the end of 2017, where they reduced their corporate tax significantly in order to attract big business.
One solution could be a decision from the G20 countries not to do business with countries that attract companies by offering lower taxation.
Shipping companies operates according to the same principles; Those countries who offer lower costs get larger merchant fleets and others gets fewer ships under their flag. A good example is that Swedish shipping companies for quite a while have been time flagging vessels to the e.g. Faroe Islands (!), which have an international shipping register.
Now, the trend has shifted in Sweden because of the implementation of so-called tonnage taxation as of January 1, 2017, and it is now seen that some shipping companies are flags back their vessels.
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