Events in the early years of the 21st century have all but done away with the widespread belief in linear development,the start of worldwide accumulative growth, and broad access to a global consumer society. The free-market ideology has facilitated a number of serious world-wide mistakes in governance, environmental management, banking practices and food and energy pricing which in recent years have rocked the world to its foundations. The message of these systemic shocks is that we can no longer afford to continue with ‘business as usual’. There is need for a significantly higher level of global political determination to make deep changes, if humankind is to survive on this planet.
The world’s wealthiest governments have shown that rapid adaptation and reform are possible. Despite the predominance of a free-market ideology opposed to government interference, when faced with a deep financial crisis that imperilled the world’s global banking system the governments of the more advanced economies were capable of generating, almost overnight, the political will to put on the table the billions of dollars required to bail out the world’s largest financial institutions. These funds did not seem available when they were requested for the global eradication of poverty.