What is a catastrophe?

ECONOMIST: Ren�� Thom

So we thought that we were imminently on the precipice of what could be a truly humanitarian catastrophe.

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But it was that keep-the-faith individual, this bull market's greatest ally, who ended, at least for the time being, what could have been a global catastrophe.

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Of course, what modern catastrophe is complete without a credit ratings debacle?

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While we may battle over what those things might be, that ideology has never, to the best of my knowledge, been extended to deny help to those who clearly cannot provide for themselves due to a dramatic and overwhelming catastrophe such as what has been experienced in Joplin and the many other American towns devastated by recent weather emergencies.

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Consider what would be necessary to slash global greenhouse-gas emissions just 50% below 2000 levels by 2050--a far less aggressive goal than what the enviros say is necessary to avert climate catastrophe.

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Unfortunately, what should be a simple debt-workout matter is in danger of spinning into a genuine catastrophe.

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The euro is doing to Europe in the 2010s what the gold standard did to the United States in the 1930s: magnifying an ordinary downturn into a social catastrophe.

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