World Bank Crisis Talk submits:

Of the myriad lessons we can take away from the financial crisis, the need for grounded, fact-based realism, rather than unquestioning, economic dogma, is on the top of my list. If policymakers and economic actors had listened to the Talebs, Roubinis and Shillers of the world early on, America’s economic bubble may have deflated before it popped (or at least stopped inflating). Instead, the "musical chairs theory of markets" took hold, and when the music stopped, the entire economic edifice collapsed (and continues to do so).

Yet, as the world enters a multi-speed recovery, I can’t help but asking, has sober caution given way to steadfast pessimism? Have predictions of gloom clouded the economic debate?

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