The political and social consequences of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression have been milder than predicted. In developing countries, at least, governments have not fallen in a heap, as they did after the Asian crisis of 1997-98. They have not battled their own people on the streets, as happened in Europe during the 1930s. Social-protection programmes have survived relatively unscathed. There have been economic-policy shifts, naturally, but no panicky retreat into isolation, populism or foreign adventures. The good news has not been spread evenly, of course: some countries have ridden the storm more successfully than others. And these are only first-round effects: things could still get worse. So far, though, resilience has been the order of the day.
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