Calm Before the Tempest?

By Charles Hugh Smith

Source: Of Two Minds

Let’s start by stipulating the obvious:no one knows the future, and most of the guesses–oops, I meanforecasts–will be wrong. Arguing about the forecasts now won’t make any difference as to which ones are correct and which ones are wrong. Time alone will tell.

That said, here’s a scenario that fits the dynamics I see as most consequential:Core-Periphery and the demise of thewaste is growth / financialization / globalization modelas the reigning model of how the global economy should work.

Core-periphery dynamics are pretty simple:unraveling starts on the periphery and seeps toward the core. The core actually strengthens in the process as capital and talent seek havens where they’re treated well, and the core became the core by treating capital and talent well.

The periphery responds to the unraveling of financialization / globalization by tightening its…