The worldwide economic crisis has now been with us for a good ten years and, for many countries, the end of the tunnel is not yet in sight and is probably a long way off. So what kind of crisis is this, that can continue for so long, given the fact that, etymologically, the term denotes a brief, crucial moment when the outcome of a troubled situation is decided, for better or for worse? Infelicitous as the term commonly used to describe the present state of the world economy may be, it is none the less true that what is designated as a crisis encompasses a historical phase in which economic growth is lower than in the preceding phase and the problems bound up with certain economic trends (inflation, unemployment, deficits, etc.) have become more acute. When one speaks of the educational crisis and the economic crisis in the same breath, the implicit hope is that the latter will soon be resolved and that, simultaneously, the educational crisis will also find a solution, harking back to the happy period from I95 o to r975 when an exceptionally long process of strong economic growth throughout the world triggered the unprecedented development of education systems. This hope is very likely to be disappointed.