The world has been marked by chaos this year. In politics, the disorder and turmoil caused by the Arab Spring still continues. Meanwhile, the global economy is roiling with turmoil as well. Confronted by this situation, many scholars seem to be pessimistic. But I regard it as a favorable turn of events and the beginning of hope.
What we need to do is to find the budding establishment of new orders, so as to discover orderly governance among the disorder of the moment.
Take the European debt crisis. It looks like a total mess, but it offers an opportunity for the establishment of new institutions. Europe, especially Germany and France, will take this chance to advance the process of European integration, especially financially.
Nowadays, the debate over the debt crisis is extremely heated. It seems that all the developed economies in Europe have fallen into so many thorny problems, and that there is a good chance for a second economic downturn and even another Great Depression.
However, there is nothing to fear if we review human history.
From 1800 to 2010, the world has already gone through more than 250 sovereignty debt crises. The ongoing debt crisis is far from the most severe one if we consider some simple indicators like the percentage of GDP the national debt accounts for. The UK used to have its national debt accounting for 60 percent and even 70 percent of its GDP for decades.
Experts on financial history have pointed out that the ongoing debt crisis is no big deal, since there are numerous possible methods to address it, such as depreciating the currency. What we can see behind all the chaos is the advancement of new orders.
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