Global Problems

◆ More men are recognizing that world problems are intertwined. Says U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim: “The majority of the great issues that confront mankind are profound, complex, and, above all, long-term problems. They cannot be resolved swiftly or dramatically; they are closely interrelated; and they bear directly upon the lives of all. For the great problems are the global problems, and they require a concerted global approach . . . Our future on this earth will depend to a large degree on our ability to develop a new economic and social system which recognizes and balances the rights, interests, and aspirations of all peoples. This is a problem of such magnitude and complexity that it can only be dealt with by a degree of global cooperation far greater than anything we have hitherto achieved.”

As Economists See It

◆ Like the weather, the U.S. economy is hard to predict. But there is at least one current pattern among the economists. Says Industry Week: “An unusual number of economy probers are arriving at a four-letter outlook: doom.” It cites the observations of New York’s Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company: “Now, there is more than the usual number of Chicken Littles warning us that the sky is falling . . . What has brought these Chicken Littles out into the open, perhaps, is that we are facing many problems today​—many of them new, and many of them so far beyond what we’re used to that they tend to increase the pessimists’ credibility.”