INTRODUCTION
Endgame
People only accept change in necessity and see necessity only in crisis.
—Jean Monnet
Every child learns about the Great Depression in school, but economists, historians, and commentators have not agreed on what we will call the turbulent economic period we are currently living in. Some do call it a depression. Others call it the Great Recession. And some refer to it as the Great Financial Crisis. The Great Financial Crisis is particularly apt, because crises force us to make difficult choices. And one thing that everyone can agree on is that this new era of turbulence will impose difficult choices on governments and voters around the world.
I (John)1 am somewhat of an expert on bad choices—not only my own, but I have had the joys of seven teenage children. As our family grew, we limited the choices our kids could make, but as they grew into teenagers, they were given more leeway. Not all of their choices were good. How many times did Dad say, “What were you thinking?” and get a mute reply or a mumbled “I don’t know.”
Yet how else do you teach them that bad choices have bad consequences? You can lecture, you can be a role model, but in the end you have to let them make their own choices. And a lot of them make a lot of bad choices. After having raised six, with one more teenage son at home, I have come to the conclusion that you just breathe a sigh of relief if they grow up and have avoided fatal, life-altering choices. I am lucky. So far. Knock on a lot of ...
