In 1992 US Presidential elections a phrase was coined. And that was “ Its the economy stupid” This phrase was meant for internal use for the Bill Clinton campaign. Somehow this phrase became a slogan. It was a very appropriate slogan as the corner stone for the Bill Clinton campaign and later on his presidency was focusing on economy and job growth.

In 1990, US had entered into a mild and short recession. The recovery was jobless. The higher unemployment continued into 1992. The above slogan helped Bill Clinton to address the core issue of Americans.

President Elect Bill Clinton did a Conference on State of Economy in December of 1992 in Little Rock Arkansas. I am providing parts of his speech which I got it from NY Times.

“PRESIDENT-ELECT BILL CLINTON I’ve called this economic conference for three reasons. First, so that all of us can hear and give an assessment of where our economy is today and what has been happening to it over the last two decades

Second, so that we could bring together a diverse and talented group of Americans who make this economy work, and get your ideas and your input on how we should implement our economic plan

Third, to begin through this very public process to reconnect the American people to their government, and to ask for their help, too, in making economic progress”

He also talked about his plan of economy revitalization :

“First, we must invest in our people, their education, their training and their skills. . . .

Second, we must increase investment, both public and private, to create jobs — investment in technology, investment in infrastructure, investment in plant and equipment, investment in research and development.

Third, we must stop the cycle of borrow- and-spend economics.

Fourth, we need a new approach to energy and to the environment. Senator Gore and I have never accepted the idea that there is a long-term conflict between economic growth and environmental responsibility.

Finally, we must each make a personal commitment to our government. . . . I mean a very personal commitment to change, an investment of time and spirit, a willingness to give something back to the country and to challenge the way the government does its business so that we are not wasting so much money and not wasting so much of our future”

This was not a part of campaign but after he was elected his slogan became the reality and the foundation of his presidency was laid at this conference.

I remember the above conference and watched it live on TV. Right from this conference, the focus of his presidency was the five things points he talked about.

Fast forward to today. Politicians are still talking about economy and jobs. They are blaming trade agreements, immigration and globalization. They talk about unfair trade practice.

I believe that in today’s world, everything is affected by connectivity, smart nodes, collective intelligence and ability to control activity without human interaction. From 3D printing to managing drones from thousands of miles, is having impact on our lives.

Now lets take impact of technology and happy yo the above objective of the conference. Our new economy vitalization plan should look like :

First we must educate people to understand, get trained , adopt and manage new technologies.

Second let’s invest in public and private sector in smart cities, smart manufacturing, smart grid and smart infrastructure.

Third, leverage new technologies to change the way big finance works which will create more sustainable economy in turn can stop borrow and bust economy.

Fourth, alternative energy sources are viable. Involve traditional industry and all other stakeholders to integrate energy sources which can lead to totally clean energy in next 20 years.

Fifth, people should make commitment to Government but Government has to adopt latest technology for learner and transparent government. This will allow big money to get out of politics.

Thats what I think for this elections cycle everything depends on how we adopt and leverage technology for human development and thats why the slogan should be “it’s the technology stupid !!”