The recent upheaval in the global economy and polity has challenged our received understanding about the way the world functions. The certitude of all political ideologies has been thoroughly undermined, which in turn has substantially changed the policy discourses. The debate on debt-fuelled growth led by the state and the private sector and the structural and social consequences of that is wide open. The contemporary economic structure has been found to increase inequality without generating substantial employment or an increase in real wages. It is vulnerable to periodic crises. The need for an effective regulation of the economy and the markets has been echoed around the globe. The problem of poverty and a low level of human development are worryingly still present before us.