The last decade has taught me that corporations matter more than nations, at this point. In the case of corporate capitalism, governments act like special interest groups protecting the corporations that fund their lifestyles.
To that end, if a major bank like RBS were to go belly up and now be beyond the ability of the U.K. to save, what are the chances we see a “national merger” where a country offers to absorb the losses in the banking system in exchange for absorbing the entire nation (population, economy and all)?
This sounds extreme, but it’s effectively what happened in the feudal era. Wealthy nobles would support whichever king had the resources to protect them. Only thing I’m doing is replacing “wealthy nobles” with “corporations” — which are essentially “jointly owned” among the entire “nobility” (I.e. the capital class in the West).
Ultimately I think we will avoid World War III because the corporations don’t want it; and they control enough of the global logistics supply chain to prevent it. So a peaceful way to transition failed governments and financial systems back to prosperity will be needed if we want to avoid a repeat of the Weimar Republic.