Modern Reality of Asymmetric Technological and Socio-Economic Development

Abstract

Asymmetric technological progress and its consequence – global socio-economic inequality, which began in the XVIII century – continue to exist even in the post-industrial era, serving as one of the reasons for the increase in the wealth gap between the income levels and opportunities of the rich and the poor populations of the world.The situation may be exacerbated in the post-pandemic (COVID-19) period, as the consequences of the epidemic, especially in developing countries, hundreds of millions of workplaces will vanish, incomes of the entire populations will decrease, and global hunger and nutritional deficiency will take place.In the given complicated situation, developed countries and regions should accelerate – rather than halt – technological progress; however, it should be driven not by the need to make the rich even wealthier; it should be driven by the need to help the financially vulnerable and the need to improve their living conditions.In turn, developing countries and regions should implement state policies for innovation development, mobilize their resources and continually try to introduce new technologies on a massive scale.