The late physicist Per Bak argued that it is a problem of historical narratives that people try to ascribe significance to what might just be fortuitous chains of events. Technically, in an open, complex system a state of "self-organised criticality" is attained in which small random causes can have disproportionately large cascading effects. From outside the system, only the statistical properties of these "avalanches" are meaningful, but from within the system every little building block has a significance and so a narrative gets constructed to explain the observed succession of events as a meaningful causative chain. A constant case of post hoc ergo propter hoc, in a way.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides

As for the reintegration of the East German economy, it may take even longer than 20 years. Reintegrating the South back into the US economy after the Civil War took over a century. I think the scope of the problems in the two cases are comparable.

The economics of today have developed, because they work. It seems evolution to me, in that regard. It happens, because there is a time-window for it. One day, the brick wall will come, but that's no worry for the species of today. Evolution has no long term strategy. It's opportune, it just is - and apparently so is economics.

To wit: the 14th century saw the greatest economic (and social) collapse in European history. As happens after a biological mass extinction, there was an explosion of economic and cultural growth (call it a memetic radiation if you want) over the following century or so, in which 1) starting from an all-time low, there was sustained and rapid economic growth; 2) cultural norms were up for grabs and the traditional prohibition of usury was abandoned. This is becuase when your economy is expanding and there is lots of room for population to grow and expand, both return and interest rates can be sustainably high. So, the explosive recovery of the European economy between 1350 and 1500 laid the foundations of modern capitalism. And we're talking 5 to 10 generations here, enought to completely change the worldview of an entire civilisation.

Then around 1500 came the "age of exploration" with a greatly inflationary influx of precious metals and spices from America and Asia, plus constant warfare for about 200 years providing a keynesian stimulus to growth, plus a need for states to incur huge debts to maintain their huge armies.

So by the time the 17th century rolled along and enlightened scholars started to apply reason to economic matters, the financial system of capitalism was the natural state of things, and growth, rather than being a cause, was perceived as the effect.

And from that conceptual reversal of the causal chain come our current woes.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides

Because we're taking over the biosphere.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides