Permacrisis

Europe 1992 must be understood as an effort by European governments and business elites to meet the permacrisis of slowed growth and higher levels of unemployment; respond to the changing American and Japanese capabilities; and promote their collective position in the international order.

Agriculture continued to be in permacrisis, and shortages of consumer goods were customary, but exports of energy and materials, at least until 1986, were providing a hard currency cushion for remedial imports, so that the living conditions of Soviet citizens were better, not worse, in the mid-1980s than a decade earlier.

In the age of permacrisis, the world we live in will continue to be characterised by high levels of uncertainty, fragility and unpredictability.

It is reported that searches for gaslighting on Merriam-Webster’s website increased 17-fold in 2022 compared with 2021. Let us hope that this is a momentary blip and does not imply a permacrisis of deceit.