The other day, I bumped into a friend from my days at The Economist. Why are your columns so depressing, he asked me? I began to deny the charge until it was pointed out that I had recently published
a book with the doom-laden title Zero-Sum Future.
So instead of denial, I went for explanation. The western world is in serious economic and political trouble, I argued. Europe is ensnared in a debt crisis that threatens the future of its single currency, and the social stability of the European Union. The US cannot control its budget deficit and must contend with infantile politics and a palpable sense of national decline.
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