Unemployment is falling. House prices are on the rise. Inflation remains low. But, despite the continuing bright news from the economic front, a tangible uneasiness hangs over the British and American publics. People are anxious about their job security, mistrustful of the apparent rising value of their assets, sceptical of government blandishments that the bad times are firmly in the past.
The world, pulled out of shape by the culture and values of big business, has become a volatile place. The 1987 stock market crash, the early nineties collapse in house prices, Norman Lamont's panicked withdrawal of sterling from the ERM, these memories are all still fresh. Rip tides of capital swirl around the globe ruining entire economies overnight, as any Malaysian or Mexican will testify. Companies set loose by free-trade agreements can relocate their businesses at a whim: ask any downsized worker.
Welcome to the Age of Insecurity.
