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Metapolis | The age of uncertainty. Liminal time

metapolis.net · 1,741 words · saved by 1 readers

For 35 years, from 1980 to 2005, the moral and labour order of much of the world was governed by a set of basic principles. These principles encouraged an imagined and inevitable destiny for the course of societies. They underpinned the personal and family efforts with which individuals justified their daily activities, their sacrifices and their everyday strategies. The free market was perceived as a “natural” mechanism for allocating resources, offering individuals a “niche of opportunity” for entrepreneurial ventures. Globalisation was seen as the path to a universalised humanity, where the prosperity and welfare of the world’s affluent would eventually percolate down to everyone, commensurate with their efforts. The minimalist state would liberate social energy and reduce taxation. The goal of zero fiscal deficit would shape the nation into a homestead austere in collective rights but auspicious in rewarding the competitive and successful. These guiding emblems served as perceived

In recent years, the world’s leading economies, with the notable exception of China, have witnessed the crumbling of the once-structuring principles of their economic order. Thus, they also have been forced to contravene the “natural laws of the market” they had held on to for decades. The following are some developments revealing the closure of a global economic cycle: ·Low gross domestic product (GDP) growth. From 1970 to 1982, the global economic wealth growth rate decreased from an annual 5% to just 2.7%, signalling the end of the welfare state and developmentalism and paving the way…

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