started to emerge regarding the economic health of some European states in early 2008, but here we are, over four years later, and EU leaders are still in talks to define a long-term solution that will enable the indebted states to compete effectively in the global marketplace. Whilst the leaders talk, Greece worries about paying for basic medical supplies. We are now firmly in a unique position that none of us have experienced in our lifetimes. The legitimacy of the two architects of the post-war world order, nation states and financial markets, is now in doubt, grave doubt. Democracy and free market capitalism stand teetering on the edge of a precipice. Everything that we believed in and worked for could disappear over the edge. Perhaps Greece has already silently tripped over the edge with more to follow. Research tells us that in times of prolonged economic hardship, when families struggle to pay food and healthcare bills, people will be prepared to give up on democracy. They will look for strong, and in their eyes, credible leadership. Decisions will be driven by emotion and fear, not by rational thought. One more debacle could take us over the precipice and then the once impermeable wall of democracy and capitalism will fall as quickly as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Life at the bottom of the precipice is a dark place, especially in Europe where extremism still silently bubbles away beneath the surface. Right-wing extremism will vie with communism for dominance. Absurd