cut and paste waffle.

since the people who created the problem are those who are 'fixing' it, you can be sure no significant change will result.

marx got one thing right, change can only happen from outside, for insiders are content with the system. the gambler's martingale called 'capitalism' will be rebooted with tax money, but like the cleaning lady with the gambler son, the taxpayers can be sure that the loan ,"until my luck changes, mum", will need to be repeated, and repeated, and re...

Demos, I see your point and generally that is exactly what happens. In this crisis, however, I believe that "necessity, the father of invention" will play a role.

This is no ordinary downturn of events. Scott MacDonald said, "Now that the US model has had its comeuppance what type of capitalism should emerge? There is a smorgasbord - quasi-authoritarian capitalism (Russia), authoritarian capitalism (China) and within democratic capitalism, you have Anglo-American, Continental and Japanese-Asian versions." MacDonald was careful to avoid use of the "dirty" word, socialism.

The "brightest and the smartest" led the world into this economic mess and have no idea what is currently needed. MacDonald has laid out the problem for us to ponder over but he offers no suggestions for its solution. He did say that confidence is a missing ingredient that is needed and of course with that, we all agree. Unique in this global crisis is that it began in the most powerful nation in the world. Because of the current globalization, it spread like wildfire elsewhere. Change in America will take place as it must. Mismanagement, greed and lack of governmental oversight all played a part in the collapse of the American economy. Minimally, in the future there will be far more direct government involvement in regulating banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions.

The US-led globalization almost certainly will come to a halt. It is likely that semi-isolationism will take place. The US now spends more on military than all of the other countries combined. There will be less emphasis on military spending and that will be good for America and the world. We are now facing an important election and the electorate seems to want a new administration and not more of the same. What is the answer to this worldwide economic crisis? I, like the brightest and the smartest, do not know.

There has been at least one person in the US government who has been consistently telling Congress what to do. He is Dr Ron Paul, a Texas Congressman.
Many others, particularly those associated with the Mises Institute, have been warning for some years of the likely outcome of the government's loose monetary policy.
In Australia the Daily Reckoning blog has been also been flagging the
downturn for some time.
Unfortunately,as DEMOS has pointed out, nothing is likely to change. Politicians think that their job is to "help people" when all they should be doing is protecting us from the baddies (internal and external) and letting us get on with our lives.

None of the three suggested models are suitable.
They all rely on growth.
Credit and Debt all rely on growth to repay the capital and interest.
Global Energy has stopped growing and is flat at present. Soon it will
go into decline, and this will force an entirely new financial system
to be developed. I haven't a clue what it will be but it will just
have to be a sustainable model.

Anyone who thinks you can have infinite growth in a finite world
is either a madman or an economist.