As the crash in commodities prices spreads economic woe across the developing world, Europe could face a wave of migration that will eclipse today’s refugee crisis, says Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“Look how many countries in Africa, for example, depend on the income from oil exports,” Schwab said in an interview ahead of the WEF’s 46th annual meeting, in the Swiss resort of Davos. “Now imagine 1 billion inhabitants, imagine they all move north.”

Whereas much of the discussion about commodities has focused on the economic and market impact, Schwab said he’s concerned that it will also spur “a substantial social breakdown.”

That fits into what Schwab, the founder of the WEF, calls the time of “unexpected consequences” we now live in. In the modern era, it’s harder for policy makers to know the impact of their actions, which has led to “erosion of trust in decision makers.”

David Fuller's view

Protect your citizens is the first obligation of any government, or at least it should be.  Any government that has not protected its citizens, either due to incompetence or callousness, will be governing a weakened, divisive and even failing state. 

The second obligation of government, I suggest, is to encourage an economic and social environment in which GDP growth increases for the benefit of its citizens.   

(See also: Tusk Jokes of Sending in the Tanks as Tensions Mount in Europe)