In those where ties to family and community are strong, lifelong marriages can be promoted by practices such as the cultural prohibition of divorce and arranged marriages that are seen as a contract between two families, not just two individuals.

They are owned by individuals and by private businesses and corporations, lending institutions, direct mailing and telemarketing firms, credit bureaus, credit card companies, and government agencies at the local, state, and federal level.

Just as peer-to-peer businesses like eBay allow anyone to become a retailer, sharing sites let individuals act as an ad hoc ( 臨時的) taxi service, car-hire firm or boutique hotel (精品酒店) as and when it suits them.

In this situation, only government can protect the economy as a whole, because most individuals and companies are involved in the self-defeating behavior of self-protection.

Individuals and companies adopted self-protection measures

And there is, to date, only the flimsiest（脆弱的）of publicly-funded health care and pension systems, which increases incentives for individuals to save while they are working.