The Crisis of Undercoordination

• Main Author: Lotfi A. Zadeh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Atlantis Press 2014-07-01
• Series: Journal of Risk Analysis and Crisis Response (JRACR)
• Subjects: Interdependence; coordination/regulation; undercoordination
• Online Access: https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/13274.pdf

Technological progress—especially in the realms of information processing, communication, transportation, commerce and distribution of energy—is leading to an accelerated growth in interdependence on all levels of modern society. A well-known result in systems analysis is that highly interdependent large-scale systems carry a high risk of catastrophic failures. To ensure stability, an increase in interdependence must be accompanied by an increase in coordination/regulation. In democratic societies there is an imbalance between interdependence and coordination/regulation. A manifestation of this imbalance is a chronic crisis of undercoordination. In large measure, the debt crisis of 2008 may be viewed as an eruption of the crisis of undercoordination.