Due to technological innovation the world is entering a period of potentially negative creative destruction where change results in less employment being generated. The contemporary context of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) could create a context in which negative creative destruction causes high levels of poverty and associated social crisis.

The political situation in Egypt is so precarious that any mis-step by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces could be very detrimental to the Middle East region and to the world. This article by Dr. David Paul Bennett reviews the contemporary situation in Egypt with reference to that nation’s recent past and possible future.

Japan has had a tumultuous year (2011) with regard to natural disasters. However, Japan will (and is) recovering from these disasters due to the resilience of its people. The Japanese generally have an orientation toward supporting each other to ensure national survival. This approach accords with the Gestalt philosophy in which the analysis of the totality of a situation is undertaken so that action can be taken to promote the common good.

If politics is not an exact science then, from a social democratic viewpoint, economics should similarly not be prescriptive.