The U.S. Market + Greek Protests + Arab Spring

The poor performance of the U.S. market and mass riots in Greece has the news in a huge craze debating, theorizing and projecting what is going on in the world. All this dishevelment has me thinking and attempting to make sense of this chaos. I’m asking myself, where do the foundations of these problems lie? An important point to take note is whereas politics once led the game and dictated the direction of economy, roles have reversed and the latter is leading the way. Do you think we can attribute these problems to a growing rift between economics and politics?

These political and economic incongruences are getting larger and larger and visible not only in America but in various parts of the world, namely and most relevantly, Greece. Since integration into the supranational power of the European Union, Greece has been a bigger economic thorn than ever expected. Many countries, especially Germany, are attempting to cover the debt of their southern neighbor but all the energy towards putting order into Greece culminated today in mass riots and protests because of possible new austerity measures.

From a global perspective, are we at a crossroads in the development of economics and politics? If we are, that would answer some questions as to why both realms are constantly at odds with each other. Perhaps this points to a different question, what has become more important?

With the development of the internet, the blogosphere and dissemination of information through diverse communication tools, IT may very well be the most significant innovation to alter the ways in which government systems (i.e. politics) and economies work. The Arab Spring, for example, could not have happened without the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Case in point, Wael Ghonim, an Egyptian and Google employee, used a Facebook fan page to promote democracy and organize protests in Cairo, Egypt. Wael is now listed as Time’s Top 100 Most Influential People.

At the moment we have rapidly growing IT development, ailing government structures and foreboding economies. With these pieces of the puzzle, what is our answer? Are present structures, such as government, too antiquated and in need of renovation? And how do we move in to a globalized world that works for everyone?