# The Global Security Deficit

1 Opinion July 25, 2014 Project-Syndicate ![A. Michael Spence](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_032670.jpg?itok=cxjGfIlv) By A. Michael Spence > The global economy is a far more highly interconnected place than it was 40 years ago. The cross-border flows of goods, information, people, and capital that are its lifeblood rely on a threshold level of safety, stability, and predictability.

Summer is normally a time to take a break from the risks and worries of everyday life, and perhaps to take stock of where we are and where we are heading. But this is increasingly difficult, because our everyday lives are becoming so much riskier and more worrying.

Much of the discussion in the period following the 2008 financial crisis focused on various economic imbalances that either threatened or impeded growth. These issues have not gone away. The US economy’s surprisingly weak performance in the first quarter, for example, has left analysts confused and uncertain about its trajectory.

But, to an increasing extent, political insecurity, potential conflict, and deteriorating international relations pose a greater threat to economic progress than the post-crisis debate foresaw.

Read full article as published in [Project Syndicate](http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/michael-spence-warns-that-political-instability-and-conflict-are-now-the-main-threat-to-the-global-economy)

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*A. Michael Spence is the William R. Berkley Professor in Economics & Business.*## More Opinions from Michael Spence

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