In the first months, we saw the collapse of trade in many countries, affecting the entire global economy. Today, however, we do observe this decoupling as countries in the West, of all places – the destinations of most of Israel’s exports – have encountered difficulties.
•  Given the bigger role for contagion, more and more people are asking whether the international financial system as it has operated for most of the 1990s is basically unstable. By now, I think the majority of observers have come to the conclusion that it is, and that some changes have to be made.