The European Union is in crisis, with many debating whether Greece, with its crippling level of debt, should even remain in the EU. In the United States, new figures from the Census Bureau reveal that nearly one in six people was living in poverty last year, painful proof of the recession’s debilitating impact on Americans.

We discuss the jittery markets and the current economic climate with David Hale, founding chairman of the Winnetka, IL-based firm David Hale Global Economics. He manages assets for companies in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa and has frequently testified before Congress on international economic policy.

For David, the chaos of today may eventually give way to the equality of tomorrow. With European and American markets sinking, he believes we may be on the cusp of a new and more egalitarian world order, led by the dynamic emerging markets once known as the “third world.”