The wave of natural disasters that swept the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions in recent weeks has left a heavy human and economic toll. Thousands have perished, lives and communities have been shattered. Could some of this have been avoided, or the toll reduced? We have been here before, notably following the tsunami that struck southern Asia and the east coast of Africa in 2004. The latest tsunamis, typhoons and earthquakes are tragic reminders of how vulnerable some human settlements are, and underline the importance of integrating disaster risk into development practices.

Has the crisis driven up public interest in policies?

On 7 September 2009, a report from the United Nations conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) blamed the "dominance of the dollar" for playing an important role in the recent build-up of global imbalances, particularly in trade and the current account, which helped lead to today's global economic crisis.

You say that "in the UK, the Home Office estimates that ID fraud costs £1.7 billion (US$330 billion) to the UK economy, nearly 50% up on 2002." ("Online identity theft", in No 268, June 2008) If everyone is given a "place" on the net where people can be contacted, that also creates an opportunity for people to protect themselves. But this "place" must be made safe, and therefore must be seen by governments as part of their country's normal infrastructure. Integrity is the key word.

An "education lighthouse for the way out of the crisis" was recently launched in the form of a new OECD web community dedicated to guiding education through the economic crisis. To date, the educationtoday collaborative website features nearly 200 content items from OECD experts and external analysts and is available to anyone who registers via myOECD at www.oecd.org.