Opinion: (Maxim Lopada, Financial Group BCS Express, from bcs-express.ru): “While politicians and economists discuss [financial] problems, the situation is quickly worsening. Banks lost trust in the ability of politicians and financial regulators to fix the situation.

“Bleak forecasts are becoming more real. Now the emphasis has shifted from the U.S. to Europe. Increasing often, the region is called “the trigger” of a new wave of problems in the world. Many talk about the disintegration of the European Union and controlled dismantlement of the European currency.”

1. Angela Dorothea Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany: “‘The euro is in danger. If we do not avert this danger, then the consequences are incalculable and the consequences for the whole of Europe are also incalculable.'”

2. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council: “The euro has never had the infrastructure that it requires.”

3. Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) Chief Executive Officer: “‘All this reminds one of the fall of 2008….'”

4. Angela Dorothea Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany: “… [ she is] warning of ‘incalculable consequences’ for the European Union if the euro were to fail.”

5. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “‘Developments this summer have indicated we are in a dangerous new phase. The stakes are clear. We risk seeing the fragile recovery derailed. So we must act now.'”

6. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council: “‘We’re in a survival crisis.’…’We all have to work together in order to survive with the eurozone, because if we don’t survive with the euro zone we will not survive with the European Union.'”

7. Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank:”‘[We] have a very bumpy road ahead of us.'”

8. George Soros, Billionaire investor: “‘Let’s face it: we are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let’s say, in Greece but could easily spread. The financial system remains extremely vulnerable.'”

9. Gerhard Schröder, Ex-Chancellor of Germany: “‘And the crisis we are currently experiencing makes it abundantly clear that you can’t have a common currency without a common fiscal, economic and social policy.'”

10. Nouriel Roubini, co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics LLC: “‘In the short term, we need to do massive stimulus, otherwise there’s going to be another Great Depression. Things are getting worse and the big difference between now and a few years ago is that this time around we’re running out of policy bullets.'”
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In the News (From huffingtonpost.com): “The pursuit of austerity measures and deficit cuts is pushing the world economy toward disaster in a misguided attempt to please global financial markets, the annual report of the United Nations economic think tank UNCTAD said on Tuesday.

“‘The message here is very pragmatic: we need to reverse our course quickly,’ said UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai Panitchpakdi.

“The current policies were a disaster, said Flassbeck, head of the globalization and development strategies division at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, and a former deputy finance minister in Germany.

“‘If interests rates everywhere are zero, and if governments stick to the policy of not only keeping fiscal deficits where they are but retrenching, cutting public expenditure, then we will end up in permanent recession,’ he said.

“‘Unemployment depends very much on demand. And if you have no demand then you need government to step in with a huge program for stimulating the economy….’

“‘Let’s not fool ourselves. This is a realistic scenario for the whole developed world, if we do not understand the lessons now, and really quickly, because we do not have other instruments any more,’ Flassbeck told a news conference to launch this year’s report.”

My Comment: But nobody knows what we should learn from it, what conclusions we should draw, and what exactly we should do. Yet, they nevertheless do not want to listen….

Indeed, according to sound reason and the theory of egoistic capitalistic development of the past, one should save and think only of oneself. But on what theoretical basis should anyone listen to: Don’t save, think of all others?  We are approaching 2012, and judging from the letters I receive, many are panicking, fearing that the horrible predictions will come true.

But in reality, we only need to change our outlook to what is happening, to see that it is not a crisis, not cause for despair, but a thoughtful plan of nature to develop man. We need to accept what is happening now like a classroom exercise we must do to change ourselves in order to pass the high school examinations and enter adult life—new, harmonious, and good.
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Question: What is the use in educating the masses if the elite will continue to take the lion’s share?

Answer: The lion’s share of what? Do you think that the elite will not help us in providing basic needs? I do not think so. The government and the rich will not stand aside; they will lend a helping hand. In fact, neither they nor the masses have a choice. If we are heading towards general recovery, any part of the nation can take part in this.

For example, everyone but the poorest will allocate 10 percent of their income to social needs. What will motivate them? The threat of social riot and the collapse of country. The state will also cut one-tenth of the fat, both from the budget as well as from informal resources.

We need to understand what will follow. Unemployment will increase; the gap between rich and poor will grow, and people, as well as the government, will be confused. This is what will happen if we do not proceed to global education. The same thing is happening in Europe and America. Everyone will have to resort to this method. And we, Israelis, should set an example for the whole world.

And above all, it is desirable to demonstrate to people as soon as possible that “fair distribution” without global education is not fair and provides no solutions. We will not be able to deal with any modern problem without radical changes in society.
[55203]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/20/2011, “The Nation”

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Opinion: (Yuri Yakovets, Professor, Russian Academy of Public Administration; from the report to the UN): “In the first half of the 21st century the world of civilizations faced new challenges of the next whorl of historical progress, was hit with a wave of global crises – financial-economic, energy-ecological, food, technological, socio-cultural – and is now on the crossroads.

“The multi-polar world has become a reality. A strategic choice is made between its two models: multi-polar world based on the confrontation and conflicts of civilizations or on their dialogue and partnership.”

For the time being, the predominant strategy is to adapt to new conditions, thereby prolonging the agony of the old regime and exacerbating global conflict. But having outlined a future society, it is necessary to develop and implement the strategy of becoming an integral civilization, the foundations of which originate before our eyes, thus alleviating the birthing pains of the transition to a new stage of our development.

My Comment: The stages of “fetal development” and its birth have been already described; we only need to circulate and implement them. The events should unfold like in a Hollywood movie that shows how the inhabitants of the Earth prepare for the arrival of aliens from outer space. We too need to rush to get ready for the coming of a new world. We feel its manifestation and our lack of preparedness as a crisis. This crisis is in us, but if we start to change, our bitter sensations will turn into their opposite.
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Opinion: (Floyd Norris, The New York Times): “If there was one lesson to be learned from the European sovereign debt crisis, it was that monetary union by itself cannot work indefinitely. If Europe really wants to preserve the advantages of the euro currency, it will need far more fiscal and economic integration. Nations will have to give up a significant amount of sovereignty.

“European leaders seem to be willing to accept that reality. But persuading publics may be far more difficult.

“Those realities will continue to pressure Europeans toward either abandoning the currency union or accepting much more financial union. For now, anyway, they are choosing the latter course.”

My Comment: But any alliance calls for the consent of the citizens, and that requires educating people in the spirit of considering all society as a single system. Otherwise, the government will not have the support of its citizens. But it is impossible to persuade the public to go against their own interests in one go. This requires multiple, extensive explanations of the general condition and its single solution: to bring the EU countries to general (financial) guarantee.
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Opinion: (Michael Khazin, an economist, from newsland.ru): “I am confident that the crisis will last a long time. Here is why: Crisis is a change of a certain parameter that transitions from an unnatural state into a natural one. Until this process is over, the crisis will continue. Our modern day crisis is related… to credit-based demand stimulation, that is, people lived on credit. As a result, huge amounts of debt have been accumulated. In and of themselves, debt is not deadly… but it cannot be increased any more. And if so, it is impossible to maintain a high level of demand.

“This is the reason why the world economy will decline by 30-35%, …while the American by 55-60%. In a country like the U.S., this will cause a socio-political catastrophe.

“The crisis will persist until world demand will continue to decline. The collapse will end when demand stops exceeding the real income of the population.

“Ordinary people will experience the crisis through the growth of unemployment, lower standard of living, smaller salaries, increasing cost of goods, the transition of many goods that we currently consider ‘common’ into the ranks of ‘luxury’ items, and so on.

“For the last 30 years the middle class in the West was sustained only by credit. The reduction of credit will force many people into poverty; they won’t be able to afford a car, an apartment, or medical services. Fifty percent of Europeans belong to this pool of population, and forty percent of them will fall into poverty.

“Prices will grow faster than wages, and hence purchasing capacity will drop.

“The price of gold will continue to grow… and eventually gold will replace the dollar as a measure of value.”

My Comment: Slow movement towards rational consumption would be a bliss, but it won’t happen because Nature doesn’t plan simply to return us to balance. Instead, it wants us to unite into one system similar to Nature itself. No tricks will help until we go through change towards reciprocity and unity, in similarity to a unified system of Nature, and stop being a cancerous tumor in it.
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Opinion: (Michael Khazin, an economist, from worldcrisis.ru): “Ten years ago the American elite once and for all refused to continue a dialogue with society at large and decided to safeguard their profits at any cost.

“In the summer of 2001, I drafted the theory of structural economic crises. …At the time, it was already impossible to avoid the financial crisis, meaning the stock market collapse. I suspected that the U.S. government would decide that if the process cannot be avoided, it should be controlled …in the form of a huge terrorist attack that would benefit all participants of the process.

“Journalists who wrote about this situation were harshly expelled from their profession (you know, freedom of speech…). It’s not the first time in American history: the war with Spain in 1898 (the loss of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor), Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin incident…

“The natural flow of events rendered ineffective the traditional and rational ways of influencing the situation, and the “rules of the game” had to be drastically altered.

“One either has to admit the presence of principal changes and look for a solution together with the entire society, or one has to hide them from society… and change the methods of governance so as to compensate for the negative changes that influence the elite.

“The gap between rich and poor in the US reached all-time highs, and real household income continues to decline.

“Certain events are about to follow and show the elite that their loss of status and profits is as unavoidable as the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Such events will take place more often, and rich people will repeatedly become their victims.

“The political situation in the world will be aggravated since unfolding regional conflicts and manipulation with prices on the world market always worked as a method of getting rid of undesirable people. So, September 11, 2001 became a symbol of a doorway to a new terribly uncomfortable world in which we live now and will continue to live for a long time.”

My Comment: I hope it won’t last for a long time because it’s starting to affect Israel….
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Opinion: (Jyrki Katainen, Prime Minister of Finland): “Europe is falling behind the emerging economies. Growth calls for structural economic change and a well-functioning, Europe-wide internal market.

“Finland wants a European Union in which each country takes care of its own public finances.

“On an exceptional basis, we have had to help the countries in crisis, Ireland, Greece and Portugal. This has been necessary in order to avoid economic paralysis throughout the euro area. But loans to help other Member States must be the exception – a rare exception – and never the rule. In the first and last instance, each country is responsible for its own economy.”

My Comment: This attitude will lead the European Union to total economic collapse and as a result, to war. In our time, when the universal interdependence is being revealed, we need to serve as a guarantor for each other. To play “against” means to harm ourselves.
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Opinion: (Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive): “Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will stunt bank profit for years and could kill off the weakest, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann told industry bosses, amid intense scrutiny of the sector’s finances.

“’Prospects for the financial sector overall … are rather limited,’ the CEO of Germany’s top bank said on Monday. ‘The outlook for the future growth of revenues is limited by both the current situation and structurally.’

“Ackermann said that the financial services industry needed to go beyond curbing the excesses of the past and reevaluate what role banks play in the global economy, signaling that the lender will not revive some of the risky businesses…”

My Comment: Surely, those who deal with economic relationships, more than anyone else, feel how impossible it is to manage them.

The problem can be solved only by changing the way we perceive the real state of society: We find ourselves in a interconnected world, and hence, we are obliged to change the strategy of our relationships. Unilateral egoistic profit should be substituted by multi-lateral mutual benefit to maximize our interconnection rather than individual profit—for the well-being of society. Economists in particular have to ponder over the crisis of their own perception(!) and its repair.
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Opinion: (Nouriel Roubini, co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics LLC): “The current slowdown in the world economy has brought forward the timing of a new financial crisis.

“’I thought a few months ago that the perfect storm would be 2013,’ Roubini said in an interview in London today. ‘But now, the economic weakness in the U.S., euro zone and the U.K. is front loaded. So we’re going to double dip earlier. The climax of it could be 2013, or it could be already earlier. It depends on what policy tools are available.’

“Another financial crisis ‘is already manifesting itself’ in developed economies.

“Roubini said if he had large amounts of money to invest, he would ‘mostly keep it in cash,’ especially in dollars, as the U.S. currency tends to strengthen during financial crises.”

My Comment: The more frequently we will experience crises, the quicker we will understand that they have their purpose, nature, cause, and goal: to force us to realize our egoistic opposition to global, integral nature.

Nature compels us toward mutual guarantee, flexibility, and realization that we are integral parts of a single mechanism. We are entering the stage of our “human” development, and we will be forced to reach the quality of “love thy neighbor as thyself”—the law of commutation of single system elements.
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