Viewpoint

The tallest office tower in the world (at 818 metres), a superb ski run in the middle of the desert, the Queen Mary, the finest thoroughbred horses, gigantic duty-free malls—Dubai was the most dazzling of the united emirates. And yet, contrary to what one would think, these countries oozing with petrodollars embarked on long-term, money-losing ventures on credit.

Historians will look back on the first ten years of this century as the start of the process of digesting the technological revolution. For the moment we have fared a bit better than during the industrial revolution, a period punctuated by major wars, depressions and fitful dramas. It is time to wake up to the facts.

Every time the world is racked by a severe economic crisis, there is a nagging need to find a scapegoat so the public can be told whose fault it is.