March 26 2009
Already, there are glimmers of hope among the daily gloom and doom from the media about the state of the economy. Stock markets are rising, albeit fitfully. Some businesses are now reporting better reslts than were expected. It will take at least a year before unemployment levels begin to recede and several years before general prosperity returns, but there is no doubt that economic recovery is coming.
All this leaves me with three questions:
Collectively, have we learned anything from the meltdown about thrift or will we return to our old ways of buying what we can't afford, once this crisis has passed, thus setting ourselves up for the next crash?
Will Capitalism undergo any permanent changes? It's a system that can reward hard work and risk taking, but it also rewards greed and ruthlessness. Because the current situation is so dire, even many conservatives have held their noses to accept government regulation of the financIal markets. As soon as things get better, will we again hear calls to strike down these rules on the argument that the “free market” will regulate itself very nicely?
Willl we begin to care about the environment again? Many people were finally getting the message about climate change, but, when faced with losing their jobs and homes, they quickly forgot about melting polar ice caps and polar bears. Climate change hasn't gone away just because we've been more worried about other things.
Historian George Santayana once said that those who refuse to learn from history will be codemned to relive it. Have we learned anything? What do you think?
George
P.S. Please visit my website at www.checkmatefiction.com for some free short stories.
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