Why an Imbalanced Global Economy is a Recipe for Disaster
In the 1930s, it was countries that grew apart and unequal. Germany owed too much money to Britain and France — much more than it could ever repay. The reparations broke its economy, shattered the lives of its people, drove them into penury. Hungry, resentful, embittered, enraged, what happened next? They turned to the most strident and bombastic strongman they could find. They sought in his arms what had been taken from them, at root — dignity, a sense of belonging, pride, meaning. But instead of seeking those in healthy, positive, beneficial ways, they sought them in destructive, negative, and violent ones — turning on their neighbors, scapegoating Jews, immigrants, gays, minorities. And thus the seeds of atrocity and war were laid by the hand of austerity, indebtedness, and stagnation. Read More
