In addition to trying to get out of the recession - our first priority - many of us will be making do with less and relying more on ourselves and our families.
As firms grapple with a brutal economic downturn, they are taking a long, hard look at the resources they devote to everything from supporting charities to making their activities carbon-neutral.
If the financial crisis and deep recession slashed Britain's productive potential, then presumably it would have done the same in America, which suffered a similarly big fallout.
Two world wars and a Great Depression rocked the confidence of many people that scientific expertise alone could create a prosperous and ordered world.