Europe’s Riot and Rebellion

Roger Boyes writes in today’s Times of London about an increasing number of protests and riots seen in Iceland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Russia over the last months, most of them calling for changes in government, as people respond to the effects of the financial crisis.

He quotes LSE economist Robert Wade, who has warned that large-scale civil unrest is on its way in Europe:

“It will be caused by the rise of general awareness throughout Europe, America and Asia that hundreds and millions of people in rich and poor countries are experiencing rapidly falling consumption standards; that the crisis is getting worse, not better, and that it has escaped the control of public authorities, national and international,” he said.