Besides, the U.N. Development Programme notes that while human development is projected to reach record highs again, half of the poorest countries remain below their pre-crisis trajectory after the declines of 2020 and 2021. If the next era of growth is to be sustainable, it must be built around humans, and every human at that. The idea of a new economic paradigm that I call “sustainomy” aims to uplift people along with the system, argues that when economic output rises but the quality of life remains flat, growth is built at the cost of widening the gap between what the system can produce and what people can absorb.
This is because according to the 2022 World Inequality Report, the lowest-earning half of the world holds merely 2% of global wealth, while wealth concentrates heavily at the top. In other words, the system is expanding while the median person experiences stagnation in living standards. While nominal wages in advanced economies have begun recovering after the inflation shock, real wages remain below early-2021 levels in around two-thirds of OECD countries analyzed by the organization. Simultaneously, we are running the planet at a loss. Global Footprint Network estimates that humanity is using nature roughly 1.7 to 1.8 times faster than ecosystems can regenerate, an ecological overdraft that shows up as earlier “overshoot days” each year.
The World Economic Forum has projected that about 23% of jobs are expected to change by 2027, with major churn in roles created and displaced, and employers estimating 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted over the same horizon. If we treat people as an afterthought in the innovation cycle, then the very technologies meant to lift society will instead widen the gap between a high-performing system and a struggling citizenry. Talking about a “high-performing system,” in the United States, the productivity–pay gap has widened dramatically since 1979; productivity rises, while typical worker compensation lags. A society cannot indefinitely rely on productivity gains while leaving the broad base of people underprepared, underpaid, or increasingly anxious about their place in the economy. This has made growth unequal and therefore brittle.
The solution starts with how humans learn
Academic skillsThe foundational ability to distinguish what is relevant from what is noise. Today, misinformation spreads faster than facts, and AI can generate endless plausible-sounding text. Thus, the ability to think critically is non-negotiable.
People skillsThese are the abilities to understand others. With many colliding players, whether it be supply chains, climate risks, or social expectations, people skills are important in building comprehension and trust.
How this works as an economic strategy is when human capability rises, societies absorb technological change without tearing. Workers shift roles faster. SMEs adapt faster. Communities sustain confidence through disruption. That is why “sustainomy” emphasizes an economy that simultaneously strengthens the triple capital: Prosperity, People, and Planet.
Keeping technology as a tool, not the driver
While AI can be a remarkable engine of productivity, productivity is not the same as prosperity, and prosperity is not the same as a thriving society. If we focus solely on using AI to boost output, we risk devaluing human capital, and with that, labor becomes a cost to eliminate.
Redesign for augmentation
Adopt AI where it removes drudgery and expands capability, freeing people to do higher-value work, rather than using it as a shortcut to shrink opportunity.
GDP can rise while minimum wages stagnate. Output can rise while nature is depleted faster than it regenerates. GDP can feed toward the issue of AI being used to replace human productivity. Sustainomy, therefore, proposes that “net positive impact” as a better compass: a way to evaluate growth by whether it strengthens prosperity, people, and the planet together.
With the estimation that 44% of skills would be disrupted in just a few years, the responsible way to respond is to combat it with good design: proactive reskilling, fair transition support, and institutional guardrails that keep innovation aligned with social well-being.
Scale, but strengthen the people, and the trees grow sustainably.
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