The state of the nation, the euro zone economic crisis and the sparkling gem producer

That is the story of Botswana's economy.  It has been since the 1970s. It displays a failure not of government alone but of big business, SMMEs, researchers, citizens of this country and all to be innovative enough to come up with better sustainable ways to create money.

Meanwhile, Europe is in crisis: in Italy, the sex scandal-prone Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has just announced he will resign after the European Union dictated economic austerity measures (and talking of 'austerity' it must be branded the word of the end of the first decade of the millennium given its new found popularity) have been implemented to ensure that Italy is bailed out.  The country is on the verge of bankruptcy and needs loans it cannot exactly afford to service since there is just no new money being created. The services sector has little to offer; manufacturing has nothing to offer.