No Plan B

As I listened to analysis of Ben Bernake's most recent statement I understood that he is dancing with the global finance industry. He's trying to provide encouragement to global finance in the face of the threat that they will pull out of the world economy if Bernake doesn't handle the U.S. economy in a manner that they approve of. So obviously we're not in a real recovery but still on the precipice of global financial collapse. That's why Bernake is sufficiently scared to offer what little he can to sustain the current "recovery." Unfortunately, the repeated insistence that we are already recovering diverts our attention from the reality that our economic system is so fragile. If global finance collapses, what are we going to do? Is there a plan B? Any sort of backup plan? I'm convinced that there is not and we are actually witnessing the potential demise of global finance. Since there is no plan in place for this potential, we see every "developed" country trying everything they can to keep finance afloat.

While we can certainly "hope" there is no such collapse, shouldn't we be thinking and talking about what could be done if it did happen? I mean, we could just wait until the situation is upon us, as we do with recessions, depressions, and market corrections. We know that our system cycles between booms and busts, and rather that improve the system, we assume it is the only way and are content to simply deal with the issues when and as they occur. I am certainly dissatisfied with this situation and believe that a conversation about alternatives is imperative. If global finance fails we need to have a plan B. We can't wait for the moment to devise the strategy. Strategies for a situation of this sort should be modeled and tested in the interest of the global society. There is a lot we could learn from such planning and strategy sessions, and we'd be better prepared for financial crises. The alternative is almost too scary to contemplate, but make no mistake, we are on that brink.