The lingering after effects of the 2008 crisis lives on to this day, with much of Europe back in recession. What are we to make of this? Why is this recession so difficult to shake compared to previous ones? Where did it come from in the first place? And most importantly, what does it portend for the future of the world economy? This book is not aimed at sophisticated people with an understanding of the world economic system. It is for ordinary folks puzzled by what's going on around them, and wishing to gain an understanding beyond the headlines and sound bites. To explain what's going on, we first need to do two things: clarify basic economic concepts, and provide historical context to the world economy.In Part I, we consider six economic concepts that explain things such as supply and demand, economic choices and incentives, trade, economic systems and the importance of timeframes in decision making. This is not a book on economics, so the content is kept light, with the principles elucidated through relevant and interesting historical accounts. Part II succinctly explains how the world moved from an undeveloped agrarian society to the complex, sophisticated world we inhabit today. To understand how wealth is destroyed, it is important to understand how it was created in the first place. The key points include the origin of money, the industrial revolution, and what the 'killer apps' that separated the west from the rest. We then look at trade protection in order to illustrate how governments have in the past committed atrocities in the name of self interest, and how a nation's views on trade is primarily determined by where the nation finds itself in its development cycle. Finally, we look at economic bubbles. This serves to illustrate that it's an age old phenomenon and not a recent one, that it demonstrates the greed inherent in human nature, but also that it's the price we pay for a free market and by extension wealth creation.Part III dives into the current economic crisis. We consider the two World Wars and other major world events, making the point that there were dark forces at work behind the scenes that sought to orchestrate and profit from these tragedies. We consider the development of the banking sector, picking it up in Renaissance Italy and taking it through to today's system of central banks. We ask the crucial question of who owns and controls this system. The book then arrives at the current crisis, focussing on Europe and the United States. We consider the U.S. debt problem and Euro crisis, and explain how the response to the crisis was premised on the supposed lessons of the Great Depression. We also consider the danger of the current response.We look at the world of financial instruments such as Credit Default Swops in order to show how risk sensitive the world economy really is. We show how similar collapses have happened in the recent past. We then use the Libor scandal to illustrate how self interest feeds corrupt practices in an environment of concentrated power lacking transparency, and how the CDS market is a ticking time bomb.We look at the current move towards globalised power structures, picking up from the end of World War II. These include the U.N., IMF and World Bank. We show how the previously mentioned dark forces were behind the establishment of these, and how Communism and centralised power consolidation through entities such as the U.N. has been a two-pronged attempt to consolidate global economic, political and military power. In the final chapter we consider what the appropriate response should be to the revelations of this book. How can we resist these evil plans? How should we invest our money? How should we protect our persons and families in the event of the worst coming to the worst? The book makes it clear that the rise of a one world government can be frustrated, and that we should do all we can to do so.