“While the United States is very likely to retain a big part of its political influence over the next decades, its economic and financial influence will rapidly diminish. The US’s continued political influence will be related to its massive defence budget, one that dwarfs all other countries’ put together. But in economic terms the restoration of the world order that prevailed until the early 19th century is likely….

“With the US’s economic and financial power fading in relative, and recently also in absolute terms, the world faces two options:

* Design the new world order, the new vision

* Let the market and non-coordinated political processes determine the new world order.

The second option may be very costly.”