Global | Digital outlook for 2022: an alphabet soup still in the making

Summary

NFTs, ETFs, AI, VR, Web3, CBDCs, BEPS, NGEU... 2022 brings an alphabet soup for a slew of digital aims and strategies that come full of promise. Whether they take off or not will depend on moving forward steadily, with a focus on asking the right questions at each step.

Key points

• Key points:
• Technological feasibility seems clear, but the economic impact of each initiative is hard to foresee.
• There is uncertainty surrounding these projects today, but we expect gradual progress in 2022. In the long term, the key to success is not advocating certainty for any one initiative, but asking and addressing the right questions at each step, based on a threefold template: What value will it bring? What costs will it involve? And how will its benefits and drawbacks be shared out?
• Value goes beyond stock prices, and costs go beyond consumer prices and resource utilization for businesses. There may be social costs... and costs to democracy, freedom, mental health and the environment.
• Distributional and concentration problems can expand in many key parameters to be identified: among people, businesses, countries, regions... even hemispheres.

Geographies

Topics

Tags