Duncan Green
Looking for the silver lining
1 September 2009
Alliance magazine
Crises not only destroy; they can also create once-in-a-generation opportunities when the world re-examines the way it works. Women won the vote in Britain after the First World War had transformed their role in society. The Great Depression led to America’s New Deal. As Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, remarked: ‘You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.’ Could the current crisis prompt profound change to benefit most of the world’s people in the long run? Or is the current doom and gloom devoid of a silver lining?
