History Will Teach Us Nothing - The Global Economic "Crisis" in 2009

Was Sting right; will "history teach us nothing" ? Can it ? Change; upon its sea there are generally 3 means of dealing with it. First, and most popular, is to pretend the status quo is sustainable; thus embracing denial. Second, accept that change will entail minor variations of present paradigms and hope for the best. The untenable third choice is accepting the possibility that almost every rule relied upon will be largely made irrelevant and that the future is unknown.

History changes and historians make sure it does. Historians evaluate the past in the light of new events. That's the past reinterpreted, or history renewed. The better known strategist are grounded in history, leveraging history and an estimate of current conditions to speculate on the future. However, this new era is unlike those before. Although in hindsight certainly those will emerge who say they "saw it coming".

When one reviews economic and political commentary on the extant financial "crisis"; the prior evaluation of the three options should be kept in mind. For what is happening is neither a reflection of option one or two, but a likely blend of option 2 and more of option 3. The rise of the rest and the unwinding of US economic dominance amid a sea of torrent change is at the center of it all. No republican or democrat, rich or poor, will make much difference despite what the pundits say. They are all just rearranging furniture on the deck of the proverbial Titanic.

To strategically navigate radical change is nearly an impossible task; it requires a knowing of what is to come. While the "new" is rarely a radical break with the past, it is undeniable that the rate of technological, global and human change is occurring at a pace heretofore unknown in human history. Keep this in mind as we observe Zacharia GPS discuss economic stimulus with Sachs & Stiglitz above. Don't laugh as they try and define what government stimulus will reverse the near term economic circumstances amid irreversible revolutionary change that has been building for some time. They are after all good historians, pretending to know what is happening based on the past and therefore able to prescribe the solution. Perhaps they enjoy listening to Sting sing his lyrics "history will teach us nothing."