Viral networks and fragile risk control systems.

It seems that the world is being treated to constant reminders of its own fragility and the susceptibility to hazards with far reaching consequences. This article hits home at the lack of preparedness in regard to the possibility of a swine flu pandemic.

The swine flu may prove that the WHO/Centres for Disease Control version of pandemic preparedness...belongs to the same class of Ponzified risk management as Madoff securities. It is not so much that the pandemic warning system has failed as it simply doesn't exist, even in North America and the EU.

Maybe a little too clever to tie in to the Madoff fiasco but in terms of highlighting the fallibility of a culture which prides itself on its "risk management" capabilities the point is valid. The one thing that is frighteningly clear about the severity of the ongoing financial crisis and the magnitude of a potential crisis from the flu outbreak is just how virally inter-connected we all are.