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Lebanese-born author Amin Maalouf is the first commentator I’ve heard who frames the current financial crisis as a logical conclusion of the end of the Cold War.  His ideas are laid out in his most recent book (March 2009) Le dérèglement du monde : quand nos civilisations s’épuisent (“The world’s moral dissolution: when our civilisations exhaust themselves”).

Maalouf was interviewed for last Saturday’s Rue des Entrepreneurs on France Inter. Although his argument may be a little reductive, his thoughts were interesting enough that I transcribed them. An English translation is below, and a copy of my transcription is available if you want to check the accuracy.

Image: gavinandrewstewart (Creative Commons)

AMIN MAALOUF: “I think that the current economic crisis is a symptom of a moral dissoluteness, a dissoluteness which goes back a long time in history. It’s tricky to find the cause of an event, but it’s possible to date this [crisis] generally from the fall of the Berlin Wall.

[The fall of the Wall] was the end of a certain kind of world. At the end of an era like that you need to take stock and decide what you want to build on the rubble of the world that’s just collapsed. In reality, we didn’t do this.

I’m not nostalgic for the world prior to the fall of the wall. I consider that the Soviet system had manifestly failed in economic terms, that dirigisme had showed its limits. This can be seen in how China and India have started to develop themselves by getting rid of dirigisme.

Image: aur2899 (Creative Commons)

But at the same time, we came to the wrong conclusion. We thought that we could take the market to its logical conclusion – a market without limitations, without scruples. We unthreaded all the concerns, the idea of “social capitalism” – everything that had been accomplished within capitalism to humanise the system. We thought we had to roll all that back…

…at an intellectual level, it’s true that the fall of the Berlin Wall represented the end of a certain ideology, and I have no nostalgia for the ideology or for a world split between marxists and anti-marxists. Simply, we drew the conclusion that the era of ideologies was over. Everyone fell back on their loyalties, particularly religious loyalties. We find ourselves today in a world that’s difficult to live in, where our loyalties are expressed with violence.“

INTERVIEWER: “So [the fall of the wall was] a mistaken victory, you say?”

AM:“A mistaken victory in terms of economics, a mistaken victory in terms of ideology, as well as a mistaken victory for international relations. It was the end of a confrontation between two blocs, the triumph of a superpower who became the sole superpower. And at the same time the behavious of this superpower has not been above reproach! It’s difficult for people to behave properly when there’s nobody opposite them watching.“

Image: KCIvey (Creative Commons)

Sometimes I just love France. The official national 2008 unemployment figures are supposed to be released tomorrow. But they won’t be released on Thursday as scheduled because the public statistics agency is going on strike.

In fact tomorrow, most of France will be largely immobilised as millions of workers participate in a country-wide strike called by all the major unions. It’s not going to be fun for anyone trying to travel by public transport (or private car, for that matter, because everyone’s going to be on the road).

Image: Sijeka*

French strikes are nothing if not thorough. 70% of flights from French airports tomorrow are cancelled. Schools are closed, and government agencies will be operating with skeleton staffing. And don’t try listening to the radio for news: Radio France is on strike too, so will be playing Beethoven on loop all day.

For the most part, the unions aren’t demanding anything in particular this time around. They’re just expressing general disgust with President Sarkozy’s economic policies. I can’t really disagree with the unions right to strike, so I guess it’s just a matter of grinning and bearing it.

From Le Canard Enchainé - Black Thursday in the Southwest:

Radio: “No transport, no school,  no electricity…”

Wife: “This is still the storm?”

Husband: “No – the strike!”

Tomorrow, most people in France tomorrow will be getting on with things as best they can – the famous “plan débrouille“. I’m going to take the opportunity to find a walking route into the centre of town.

Some people can find some humour in the situation, however. Yesterday morning on Radio France Inter, Stéphane Guillon noted how lucky humourists have been in France since Sarkozy’s election: “We’ve never had so much work… every day, something happens! Sarkozy is Road Runner, with Wile E Coyote’s gun.”

Here’s the video (sorry in French without subtitles):