[ccebook.cn]The World in 2010

this millennium as the “nameless decade”, rather as experts on Japan lament its
recession in the 1990s as the “lost decade”. Or what about a new noun? The
economic legacy of the past few years means that in the 2010s much of the world
faces a dour “debtcade”.
Tense, tentative yet tenacious
Copyright © 2009 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.
teen years,
presents a special
challenge
Another approach is to play with numbers. The “teens” might prove popular among younger trend-setters
(even if purists protest that these begin in 2013 not 2010). The “tens” would give an audible hint of anxious
times ahead; the “twenty tens” is more neutral; the “two thousand and tens” is a mouthful. Perhaps the
“decas”, “dekkas”, or—fingers crossed for the economy—the “decadents”, could prove more appealing.
Yet uncertainty hangs heavily today over geopolitics, economics, the climate and more. All this points to
“tentative” 2010s. But cheer up. A lot will change over the next ten years. Sooner or later, the current angst
will surely lift, giving way to a gritty optimism. So here’s to the “tenacious tens”.
Adam Roberts: online news editor, The Economist
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