Introduction: The Coming Crisis, the Gathering Storm
Résumé
The introductory essay reflects on the sources of disequilibrium and instability in the current context, and makes the case for a form of prospective precautionary thinking as a means of anticipating and protecting ourselves against the coming crisis. It does this through an assessment of the difference between the natural pessimism of the political economist and the natural optimism of mainstream economists. The chapter concludes by developing a short overview of the principal sources of risk and pathology in the UK, European and world economies today, relating these to the argument of the chapters to follow and how they each explore themes of disequilibrium and crisis in our present conjuncture and their potential role in the coming crisis.