Global prosperity has indeed spread. Capitalism, along with democracy, has diffused it around the world, and is now the reigning global ideology.

From $20 billion in 1985, the World Bank estimates the global gross domestic product to around $44 billion. But while some countries have prospered tremendously, others have remained stagnant.

At the same time, the global economy is changing.  In 1993, the US accounted for a third of global production. A decade later, the US remains the largest economy. But its share of the global output fell to a fifth. The 10 largest economies now account for two-thirds of the world economy, and only six of them are the old industrialized democracies.

According to global investment bank Goldman Sachs, companies, technology, commodities and work have diffused outward from the US across the world.

This spread of global economic wealth from its previous center is predicted to create new dominant economies. Goldman Sachs argues that by 2050, four new dominant economies—so-called BRICs—will surface: Brazil, Russia, India and China. 

Robert Reich in Super Capitalism argues that at the heart of this spreading wealth is heightened competition that has propelled companies to scour the world for the most cost-effective means of production and for innovation. Technological capacity is what makes a country attractive for investments, and thus, growth.

China and India found a way out of poverty and provide good examples of how science and technology can change a nation’s fate. Both countries are investing massively on research and development (R&D) and science and technology (S&T). China offers tax breaks to attract companies to foster R&D.

In stark contrast, the status of R&D and S&T in the Philippines is dismal. We only have 152 scientists and engineers per million, less than half of the UN-recommended 380 per million population. Worse, of the 69,375 graduates in science and engineering, only 9,896 are employed in R&D-related work.

This major gap in the country’s R&D is one of the issues that the Commission on Science Technology and Engineering (Comste) addresses. We urgently need a national policy that will boost S&T in the country. Through the Comste, we will build public support for making science, technology, engineering and math improvement a national priority.

E-mail: edgardo_angara@hotmail.com. Web site: www.edangara.com

AS the world marks this week the annual global rituals of remembering HIV and AIDS issues and the people living them, it is well to focus on a few demographics right here at home.

The Philippines is finally on the track to economic recovery. The Philippine economy exhibited this year its strongest growth in 30 years. The BusinessMirror reported recently that the country’s economy is expected to grow by 7.1 percent for 2007 and expand further by 6.8 percent in 2008 in view of increased inflow of investments, huge domestic demand and high private consumption.

The late Manila Standard columnist and senior pundit Louis Beltran, may he rest in peace, would have had a field day over the events of last Thursday.

Mirror on the wall: Business hurt by siege at Pen as Rep. Susano appeals for calm

Rep. Annie Susano of Quezon City gained instant celebrity status on two occasions recently, when at first she questioned the logic of electing a woman deputy speaker for the sake of creating a “gender balance” at the House of Representatives, and when she offered a P2-million award for the arrest of the masterminds of the Batasan blast that killed at least three victims that included one congressman.

Global prosperity has indeed spread. Capitalism, along with democracy, has diffused it around the world, and is now the reigning global ideology.

LAST week, the revered and honorable gentleman from Cebu rose, “with the most reluctant willingness,” to damn the Cheaper Medicine Bill, principally on the ground that ignorance of the law excuses no one.