Would you like to see the world differently?
In over 30 years covering the dynamic Asia-Pacific economies, I have always leaned into my neurodivergence and allowed for a deep intuitive understanding of the intersection of demographics, education, inclusion, sustainability, technology and digitalisation to inform my analysis and forecasts.
The misnomer of the Attention-Deficit Mind
Growing up with a surplus of attention rather than a deficit, my experience with ADHD has been both a challenge and a remarkable asset. From my brief, unsuccessful ventures trying to find part-time jobs in retail and services as a University student to my rich 33-year journey in economics, ADHD has shaped my professional path in complex ways.
In 1990, I found my intellectual home at the University of Newcastle, Australia, working as a Research Assistant, under esteemed economists Professors Barry Hughes and Bill Mitchell. This hands-on learning environment, where I could interact with patterns and relationships rather than equations and textbooks, allowed me to flourish. But behind the scenes, I grappled with a relentless study routine, striving to make sense of concepts that seemed elusive to my neurodivergent mind.
The confirmation of ADHD as a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder would come nearly two decades later, along with a prescription for Ritalin. But with medication came a dilemma: while it allowed me to focus, it interfered with my creativity and the identification of my true interests. Medication seemed like a solution but also a disguise.
My personal relationship with ADHD is intertwined with my understanding of gender, sexuality and societal expectations of what careers, professionalism and opportunity looks like through a neurotypical lens. I know the additional burden that ADHD can bring to LGTBQ+ individuals alike. The education system and workplace culture often emphasise linear thinking over creativity and diversity of thought, leaving many ADHD individuals vulnerable and marginalised.
I've learned to harness my ADHD, recognising its benefits and finding a balance that allows me to work in linear and creative modes. I've embraced behavioural and narrative economics, a field that ignites my intellectual curiosity. I've experimented with medication, understanding my privilege to have consistent access to quality therapy and I am particularly cognisant of the mental health crisis exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.
For me, ADHD is not merely a diagnosis but a complex part of my identity, influencing my choices, my passions, and my empathy. My experience speaks to the broader challenges and opportunities for those with ADHD in education, the workplace, and society. In understanding and accepting my ADHD, I've found strength, creativity, and a unique lens through which I view the world.
That lens has largely proved to be Institutionalism.
Institutionalism has always served me well. Economies are best characterised as a set of fairly rigid institutions around which more fluid arrangements, created by people to enable them to get the goods and services they want, flow. The tension between these two states give rise to the principal imbalances we focus on as economists: capital and labour allocation and demand, the quantity, quality and price of money and , of course, prices as a signalling mechanism.
My current head-space when looking at the economy is morphing from the private bureaucracy and technostructure of “The New Industrial Economy” described by John Kenneth Galbraith in 1967 to the multisided digital frameworks that govern the terms on which participants interact with one another of “The Platform Economy” as outlined by Tirole and Rochet.
Radical changes in how we work, socialise, create value and compete for the resulting profits in the economy are now more visible than ever. The initial powerful thrust of the information-technology era in transforming manufacturing and services in response to intense price-based competition, the Third Industrial Revolution, was discrete with a number of new technologies converging: scalable software, novel materials, cheaper processes and automation all driven by web-based services.
The amalgamation of these technologies and innovation into algorithms that shifted to the cloud where they can be accessed at scale is creating a new digital infrastructure in which entire platform-based markets and digital ecosystems operate.
Crucially positioned at the intersection of sustainability, this fourth era of transformation will be characterised by dematerialising production and increasing knowledge intensity of value creation. Significantly heightened competition in domestic product, capital, and labour markets will be more visible as the data economy makes entire end-to-end supply and value chains truly visible for the first time.
Visibility does not equate with nor make an equilibrium.
The 15 years from 2008 to 2023 represent a cluster of paradigm busting developments. The 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic have been two of the largest and most disruptive crises in history. These events, along with technological transformation and digitalisation, have accelerated changes in the socio-economic system.
The 2020s mark a period where the system is evolving and self-organising in ways that are difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile with existing economic theories. The complexity and interdependence of the system make traditional forecasting, based on past extrapolations or isolated individual behaviour analysis, inadequate.
As the socio-economic system continues to change and self-organise itself in a way which is difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile with existing economic theory, new tools, new methodologies and new approaches are required.
The system is constantly evolving and is neither in, nor converging towards, a steady state. To address this, economics needs to adopt a wider systems perspective that incorporates innovations in economic tools, methodology, and policy. Additionally, the field of economics should reposition itself in relation to other critical disciplines like environment, society, and politics, integrating policies in practice. The socio-economic system is in a period of accelerating alpha, it is neither in, nor converging towards, a steady state. Adjacent disciplines are providing better answers and foresight to the most important issues of today.
I hope you enjoy this perspective into how I see the world.
