ABSTRACT
As I write this conclusion (May 2010), the general election in the United Kingdom has come and gone with no decisive result and a resultant coalition government concerned about the global fi nancial situation; the fi nancial downturn in Europe has left Greece in economic and social turmoil and created uncertainty for the euro; many countries across the world are showing high levels of political instability; and 2010 is likely to see ‘increasing risks of non-payment of sovereign debt and rising political interference as a result of the growing fallout from the economic crisis’ (Lloyds, 2010). The collapse of Lehman Brothers in the United States in September 2008 seems to have triggered, or at least exacerbated, a global recession, which has been named by some as the Great Depression (see e.g. Douglas, 2010).
