Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Great Disruption?

Thomas Friedman wonders if 2009 represents the start of "The Great Disruption," or the year that the post-war economy broke down on its way to becoming something different.

Since 1945, we have had a global economy that relied on the US and to a lesser extent Europe to consume more and more stuff. As that stuff came to be made in Asia, the system needed Asian economies to build savings that could be used to finance consumption in the West.

Now, not only is that system in distress, but perhaps it's time to question whether this is the basis for a global economy going forward. Perhaps - shudder - Americans buy, use, and waste too much stuff.

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