The EU Reflection Group: Learning from the Past (Viewpoint Essay‪)‬

The rapidly changing, globalized world never ceases to both surprise and catch us unawares. The world economical crisis that started out as a financial crisis in the United States, however, has done more than that. As it continues worsening each day, it is spreading waves of shock, disbelief, and despair across one country after another. How did we get into such a predicament? Why is it that no one saw it coming and no one could stave it off? Even after the serious warning of the burst of the "dot com bubble," and after the corporate mega-scandals the size of Enron, one could not detect any serious rethinking of the magic mantras of more growth, more profits, more dividends, and more bonuses. During the first quarter of 2008, there was still reluctance in high places to admit the scope of the growing disaster. No one imagined that the financial crisis originating in the United States would so greatly impact first, the world's banking systems, next, its stock markets, and finally, its "real" economy and productivity. If ever there is a time for serious reflection on past actions, this is surely it.