Fall 2008

This past summer, The Economist published an article ("Out of the Wilderness") pointing to a decade long trend of declining outdoorsmanship in America. According to the article, national park attendance peaked in the mid-80s and has been in a steady decline since. Despite tremendous population growth in America, fewer people are visiting local parks, taking hunting and fishing trips, and making camping expeditions.

In July, rioters laid siege to several Pakistani stock exchanges to protest declining prices in the stock market. At the Karachi Stock Exchange, a mob of small investors destroyed equipment and files, smashed windows, and burned tires in a rage over falling prices.

Today's economy faces a long list of problems. We hear daily about high gas prices and inflation, of a battered stock market, of a growing number of people unable to afford their mortgages, even of banks failing and huge companies facing bankruptcy. What explains this predicament?

Part 1: Enemy

Imagine that tomorrow the government confirmed with certainty the deaths of Bin Laden, his generals, and every single Al Qaeda foot soldier. Would that mean that the war on terror was over? Would that be enough to declare the US safe from the threat of another 9/11?