I am but a young girl, unschooled in economics and politics, but I see these horrible situations in which the governments of the world wallow -- mountains of debt, interest rates getting higher, liabilities out the wazoo -- and yet, I can't help noticing that nothing seems to change. Japan?

Once, I had the idea that I would remodel an old house. Part of that job was removing a large beam that supported a bunch of joists. This beam was maybe 3 meters long and 15 cm square. This beam had nothing holding it up other than some nails from the joists. I was trying to pry it off and it just would budge. Even after removing more than half the nails, this darn beam was just kinda hanging there. In the end, I couldn't get it to drop until I had removed all but one or two nails.

I guess what I'm saying is that structures (especially those that have been in existence for a long time) are surprisingly durable -- even when they seem entirely broken. I suspect that the unsustainable fiscal situation of places like Japan, the UK, and the US will fail to produce a circumstance requiring urgent change any time soon.