The Modern Social Contract : Prerequisites for Renewal

The modern social contract requires revision and updating on a number of points. The reasons can be broadly divided into three groups: economic, political and security issues. The authors investigate economic reasons, which include: the lack of an equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth over the past 30 years, ever-growing inequality both within and between countries, an incomparable increase in the return on capital compared with an increase in labor income, the negative impact of automation processes and robotization to the labor market.The authors conclude that the fundamental principles of the modern economic model have changed significantly over the past decades. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution emerges, national governments need to implement a series of institutional and governance reforms needed to ensure the positive impact of disruptive technologies: strengthening social protection policies and streamlining public services through greater use of automation