What Happens When Women Run the Economy?
2021-04-15
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1Women now have many of the jobs controlling the world's largest economy. And they are trying to fix it.
2Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hold top positions in President Joe Biden's administration.
3Many of his economic advisers also are women.
4This change may already be affecting economic policy.
5A new $2.3 trillion spending plan was introduced by Biden last week.
6It includes $400 billion to finance the "care economy," which supports home- and community-based jobs taking care of children and older people.
7This part of the economy involves work usually done by women and has largely been ignored for many years.
8Biden's spending plan also includes hundreds of billions of dollars more to fix racial inequalities, as well as inequalities between rural Americans and those living in cities.
9"In the end, it might be that this bill makes 80 years of history: it begins to fix the structural problems," Yellen wrote on Twitter.
10She added: "This is just the start for us."
11Some experts say women leaders can bring a new way of examining economic policy.
12"When you're different from the rest of the group, you often see things differently," said Rebecca Henderson.
13She is a professor at Harvard Business School and published a book called Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire.
14"We're in a moment of enormous crisis. We need new ways of thinking," Henderson added.
15Over the past 50 years, many women have been presidents or prime ministers of their countries.
16Few women, however, have been in positions to make powerful decisions about the economy.
17Outside the United States, Christine Lagarde runs the European Central Bank with its 2.4 trillion euro balance sheet.
18Kristalina Georgieva is at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala leads the World Trade Organization.
19Ten years ago, all those jobs were held by men.
20The limited measures available suggest that women have a better record of managing through crises.
21"When women are involved, the evidence is very clear: communities are better, economies are better, the world is better," Georgieva said in January.
22She was speaking about research done by the IMF and other economic organizations.
23Women make up less than 2 percent of chief executive officers at financial companies and agencies and less than 20 percent of executive board members.
24However, IMF research shows that having women in charge often helps keep financial organizations out of crisis.
25It is also important to note that the worldwide recession from the coronavirus pandemic has affected women much harder than men.
26Women make up 39 percent of workers worldwide, but they accounted for 54 percent of overall job losses, a recent study by McKinsey showed.
27Bringing these women back to work could increase gross domestic product (GDP) in many nations by up to 27 percent.
28Tai is the first woman of color to lead the U.S. Trade Representative's office.
29She has told her employees to think about diversity and to reach out to long ignored parts of the country.
30Okonjo-Iweala is also the first African to head the World Trade Organization (WTO).
31In 2019, the WTO managed trade of nearly $19 trillion.
32"The lesson for us is (to) make sure ... that we don't sink into business as usual," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters. "It's about decent work for ordinary people," she said.
33I'm Susan Shand.
1Women now have many of the jobs controlling the world's largest economy. And they are trying to fix it. 2Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hold top positions in President Joe Biden's administration. Many of his economic advisers also are women. 3This change may already be affecting economic policy. A new $2.3 trillion spending plan was introduced by Biden last week. It includes $400 billion to finance the "care economy," which supports home- and community-based jobs taking care of children and older people. This part of the economy involves work usually done by women and has largely been ignored for many years. 4Biden's spending plan also includes hundreds of billions of dollars more to fix racial inequalities, as well as inequalities between rural Americans and those living in cities. 5"In the end, it might be that this bill makes 80 years of history: it begins to fix the structural problems," Yellen wrote on Twitter. She added: "This is just the start for us." 6Some experts say women leaders can bring a new way of examining economic policy. 7"When you're different from the rest of the group, you often see things differently," said Rebecca Henderson. She is a professor at Harvard Business School and published a book called Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. 8"We're in a moment of enormous crisis. We need new ways of thinking," Henderson added. 9Over the past 50 years, many women have been presidents or prime ministers of their countries. Few women, however, have been in positions to make powerful decisions about the economy. 10Outside the United States, Christine Lagarde runs the European Central Bank with its 2.4 trillion euro balance sheet. Kristalina Georgieva is at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala leads the World Trade Organization. Ten years ago, all those jobs were held by men. 11The limited measures available suggest that women have a better record of managing through crises. 12"When women are involved, the evidence is very clear: communities are better, economies are better, the world is better," Georgieva said in January. She was speaking about research done by the IMF and other economic organizations. 13Women make up less than 2 percent of chief executive officers at financial companies and agencies and less than 20 percent of executive board members. However, IMF research shows that having women in charge often helps keep financial organizations out of crisis. 14It is also important to note that the worldwide recession from the coronavirus pandemic has affected women much harder than men. 15Women make up 39 percent of workers worldwide, but they accounted for 54 percent of overall job losses, a recent study by McKinsey showed. Bringing these women back to work could increase gross domestic product (GDP) in many nations by up to 27 percent. 16Tai is the first woman of color to lead the U.S. Trade Representative's office. She has told her employees to think about diversity and to reach out to long ignored parts of the country. 17Okonjo-Iweala is also the first African to head the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2019, the WTO managed trade of nearly $19 trillion. 18"The lesson for us is (to) make sure ... that we don't sink into business as usual," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters. "It's about decent work for ordinary people," she said. 19I'm Susan Shand. 20The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 21____________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23enormous - adj. extremely large 24manage - v. to have control of something, such as a business, department, organization, etc. 25gross domestic product (GDP) - n. the total value of goods and services a country produces in a year 26diversity - n. a situation in which many different kinds of things or people are included in something 27decent - adj. of a satisfactory quality or level 28We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page.