As the new year dawns there seems to be a common thread in TV, print and blogger media; a rejection, or at least rapid dismissal, of the year 2008. Of course such a reaction is understandable, 2008 was a pretty lousy year overall, though certainly it had some spectacular bright spots. Nevertheless, as 2008 limped to a close with its global recession, massive bailouts, terrible sales figures and a new war in the Middle East erupting, it certainly makes sense to wish good bye to all of that.

Some even argue it should be forgotten, 2008 might be the year to forget. But nothing could be further from the truth. We should not forget 2008, in fact we should make it a point to remember this malignant year because, after all, forgetting is what got us here.

When the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expired in late December, home-made rockets began plunking into Israel, provoking the large response escaltiing into open warfare that we witness today and is now being called “intifada 3″ by Hamas. Clearly Hamas forgot the results of the first 2 intifadas…

The global financial crises was born of the global credit crises which itself was born of the American housing crises and the wildly out of sync debt leveraging that was taking place because American politicians and business leaders forgot that financial regulations actually have value. Repealing effective market regulation leads to over-exuberant market speculation <–Remember that.

Icelandic banks, by far the hardest hit in the global meltdown apparently forgot that carrying debt several times greater than the GDP of the entire country would render them insolvent and so, insolvent they became. I’m not advocating pointing fingers, only advocating that we not be so quick to forget the lessons of the past.

Memory is a valuable tool, just like the ability to think on your feet is a valuable tool, it won’t solve everything but it certainly can ease the pain of repetition which so often comes from forgetting.