(vii) it is also likely that the increased integration of financial markets has led to the increased risk of system-wide contagion. Thus, the world of the ‘end of geography’—My word is my chip—has resulted in a crisis, as the development and adoption of ICTs and financial deregulation have combined with ‘toxic’ forces, destroying trust and value—as well as shattering Alan Greenspan’s faith in the self-regulatory abilities of financial players. My word is my chip is a very potent scenario—a high risk, high reward world—and it is of little surprise that its opposite is the Safety first scenario. Does the crisis mean that the ‘end of geography’ has run its course? Stipulations in government bail-outs that banks receiving government support give preference to lending to domestic banks would suggest that geography might be reinstating itself (The Economist, 2009). Yet the world of My word is my chip has also delivered an almost uninterrupted, near two decades of rising global prosperity. If it is to be restored after the interruption in service, reforms will be needed to mitigate the risks inherent within its powerful free market, high-tech construct: