And here the whole African continent is a disaster area. Here the Middle East is going nowhere in spite of oil, and these are things that are going to create political problems, that economic and the political are married in this respect, and this is the sort of thing we have to start worrying about. We see a growing gap between the rich and the poor internationally, globally, the North and South. Dialogue has largely broken down with Africa, Latin America, and many countries in Asia experiencing a decline in standards of living, but the other part of this that's important that we haven't talked about is not just the globalization of the corporate economy, global economy, but also the retreat from the state. Cutting back social spending, unemployment compensation, all over the western world has led to a growing income inequality and a worsening of living standards for average working women and men.
Governments are absolutely strapped.
It's finally recognized it, but now it has to reconcile the need to pull back government spending with a very, very tough popular reaction. They're going to chase cheaper labor and where their capital goes further. They are looking for productivity gains, and they are looking for the bottom line. Union leaders warned the protests may escalate if the austerity plan goes ahead. Oh, the backlash has begun, definitely.