“It’s the sustainability, stupid”

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It’s the economy, stupid” is a slight variation of the phrase “The economy, stupid” which James Carville had coined as a campaign strategist of Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign against sitting president George H. W. Bush [1]

Bill Clinton, 1995. Fuente: Wikipedia
Bill Clinton, 1995. Source: Wikipedia

If Bill Clinton tried (and could) to run again for the next USA elections, his famous statement may not be very useful this time. He should think a new stunning message.

Firstly, because in the case he could apply as a candidate in the same party than the current president Obama, the economy and employment in the US meet one the best rates of the last decades [2]. Less to find now than in 1992.

Secondly, because economics doesn´t connects nowadays with the people. From the point of view of the citizens, we have witnessed in recent times how even the most well-renowned economists have made systematic wrong diagnoses, assessments and economic proposals to solve the crisis.

In such a turbulent age and taking into account the possibilities of communication, the mistakes of the economic science resound noisily, and resound, and resound,… strong.

The citizenship is not the only party disappointed with economics. There is also a wider discussion among many experts -and no expert but influential people- about the deterioration of the economic science. Economics is lacking solvency.

So, Bill Clinton shouldn´t today win the US elections by using the traditional concept of economy. He should better go beyond, to a concept that has also a lot to do with the distribution of resources, but also with society, responsibility and environment. It´s all about sustainable development.

Since the 1970´s decade, when the influence of human activity on the global environment was scientifically proven, the concept of sustainable development has expanded more and more. Little by little, as a consequence of its unceasing dissemination among the scientific community and the society, the sustainable development policies were established also in the largest businesses and, since the early 1990´s, appeared a number of stringent and renowned sustainability standards at the disposal of any organization.

Today, there is no company ignoring the sustainable development -economy, environment and the social aspect- as a part of its strategic approaches.

Bill Clinton can´t stand in the forthcoming US elections. His partner Hillary can, and I am sure that if Bill Clinton should suggest his wife a stunning phrase to say the republican candidate on duty, this may be something like this:

“It’s the sustainability, stupid”

References:
[1] WIKIPEDIA. 7 may 2015. It's the economy, stupid. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_la_econom%C3%ADa,_estúpido. Consulted 17 Jul 2015.
[2] PÉREZ COLOMÉ, Jordi. 21 Jan 2015. Obama canta victoria más de lo que debería. https://es.noticias.yahoo.com/blogs/world-wide-blog/obama-canta-victoria-060818903.html. Consulted 17 Jul 2015.