In the late 1990′s the problems of the world were very different. Terrorism was not as big a perceived threat and people were just warming up to global warming, with “buying local” not meaning much to anyone. One of the big problems at the time was Y2K. Everyone knew the ushering of the new millennium would be catastrophic. While in hindsight it is easy to laugh at what did not happen, yours truly had friends and friends of friends who got out of their leases and went to the countryside. Another friend bought a shotgun and emptied out his checking account.
It is generally agreed that the money spent on Y2K solutions (up to $600 Billion) was mostly wasted. What exactly was wasted and what wasn’t cannot be accurately gauged of course, but it does raise an interesting question: every age has its forthcoming catastrophes, be they Acid Rain, Mad Cow disease, SARS, Avian flu, Swine flu, overpopulation, global cooling, etc. etc. Was the money spent (and the panic sewn) on all of these worth the cost? Can we learn anything when dealing with “catastrophic events” of the future? Is it right to spend so many resources worrying so much about them? Especially considering the number of Black Swans in recent years, all of which were very real, but none of which were on major outlets’ radars before they occurred?
