Robert L. Terrell

The desperation exuding from experts regarding the current “global financial crisis” does not bode well for the immediate future.  All the most important signals from Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo and Beijing confirm my firm impression that the “wise men” in charge of the world’s financial affairs are fast running out of good ideas regarding measures which can, or should, be implemented to halt the meltdown, and hopefully, engender some sort of recovery, however modest. 

Furthermore, close examination of the blizzard of proposals being touted as partial solutions to the escalating crisis, rather quickly reveals the fact that there is little unity of opinion among the most prominent spokespersons about what should be done, by whom, and in what manner.  Thus, it should not be surprising that the recent assemblage of financial dignitaries at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland accomplished little beyond clarification of the increasingly obvious fact that the current financial crisis is so large, complex and opaque, that few, if any, individuals possess the faintest notion of what it will take to end it.  The vast, negative ramifications of this unpleasant fact are quite probably responsible for the increasingly worried commentary about the financial crisis being provided by President Barack Obama.

As far as ramifications are concerned, I am moved to recall an experience I had two decades ago while traveling upriver from Paramaribo, Suriname in a leaking, handmade, wooden boat.   Coffee brown river water swirled strongly on both sides of the creaking craft are it chugged upriver, away from the faded, old city, and ever deeper into the jungle.  Within less than an hour, each side of the river was covered with lush vegetation, and there were few signs that any human beings had ever ventured into the territory.

But the pristine scenery abruptly changed after two hours when we entered an almost surreal section of the winding river that extended for several miles.   Stretched one after another along the alligator inhabited banks on both sides of the river were ancient hulks of former plantation estates.  In most cases, little was left standing but a partial wall, or tilted chimney.  Remnants of a few grand mansions stood out among the trees.  There were also scattered remnants of barns and out buildings, all of which were being slowly but surely engulfed by the profuse vegetation which covered everything but the swift river’s flowing water.

Rotting piers hanging precariously over the river from decaying foundations, were all that remained of many of the completely deserted estates, which collapsed during the 19^th century due to a global recession that destroyed the sugar market.  I remember being stunned at the time by the incredible magnitude of vast destruction produced by massive, global recessions.  My memories of that scene lead me to wonder today whether equally devastating collapses will occur in our immediate future.

The team that President Obama has assembled to engineer economic recovery for the U.S. is composed of experienced, highly intelligent people, who may prove equal to the task before them.  But my strong impression is that they are not prepared to think in the new ways that will inevitably be required for the United States to make the very best of this particularly bad situation.  

More to come…