"There are a half dozen different kind of systemic attacks that could hit America, whether it's a cyber attack, which is a really serious problem, one that the national security people call a "cyber Pearl Harbor," Kevin Freeman, the founder and chairman of the National Security Investment Consultant Institute, or NSIC, told CBN News. Examples of cyber attacks include the recent hacking of Sony and the embarrassment of the military's Central Command by ISIS.

A more feared scenario would be an electromagnetic pulse attack, or EMP, designed to wipe out our electric grid and computer chips across the country. That's not all. "There are mercantilist and predatory trade practices; dumping of foreign products on American markets in order to put American businesses out of business," said John Lenczowski, founder and president of The Institute of World Politics, a national security and international affairs school in Washington DC. "There is the selling of counterfeit products which gravely damages all sorts of American businesses," he said.

"It could be a settlement attack, where they take down our ability to settle trades on the New York Stock Exchange," Freeman added. "Or a banking attack, where literally you turn on, log in, and there's nothing left. These are the kind of financial warfare attacks that we see preparations for daily, and we see examples of attempts almost daily."

Would the major central banks in the United States, Europe and Asia succeed in stabilizing the wobbling global economy? Or have the central bankers long since become risk factors themselves? The question was everywhere at the forum, being addressed by experts at the lecturns and by participants in the hallways.

Central banks, said Harvard University economics professor Kenneth Rogoff, are surely the greatest source of uncertainty in the eyes of the financial markets, a statement that was not disputed by others on the panel. The fact that monetary policies at central banks in the US, Europe, Japan and elsewhere are drifting apart poses a major risk for the stability of financial markets, he said.

"It's important for the international community to work together to avoid currency wars which no one can win," Min Zhu, deputy managing director of the IMF, told the conference.

Sharia courts have been in existence in the country for some time, but in 1996, the passage of the Arbitration Act was seen by Muslims as being a doorway to enforcing Sharia law within British law. Now, some of the cities that have the greatest Muslim concentration, such as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bradford, also possess an Islamic court. The Tower Hamlets area is especially stated to be the seat of Sharia rule.

“If people are afraid of having their hands cut, don’t steal,” UK Islamic leader Anjem Choduary told reporters. “If you don’t want to be stoned to death, don’t commit adultery.”

The interesting thing about this latest measles outbreak is that the media is parading it around as evidence that not getting vaccinated triggers disease outbreaks, even though the original source of the disease is unknown. It is entirely possible that a vaccinated person spread the disease to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, which in and of itself shows the lack of effectiveness of vaccines.

Early on, media reports claimed that "most" of the cases were in unvaccinated people. More recent reports are saying that "some" of the people were unvaccinated.

Greece is not the only economy struggling under the euro, and that's why a new approach is needed, Stiglitz said. "The policies that Europe has foisted on Greece just have not worked and that's true of Spain and other countries." The Columbia University professor is one of 18 prominent economists who co-authored a letter saying that Europe would benefit from giving Greece a fresh start through debt reduction and a further conditional extension in the grace period. But in the letter in the Financial Times last week, they stressed that Greece would also have to carry out reforms.

"Greece made a few mistakes ... but Europe made even bigger mistakes," Stiglitz told CNBC. "The medicine they gave was poisonous. It led the debt to grow up and the economy to go down." "If Greece leaves, I think Greece will actually do better ... There will be a period of adjustment. But Greece will start to grow," he said. "If that happens, you going to see Spain and Portugal - they've been giving us this toxic medicine and there's an alternative course."

He said the real problem is Germany, which has benefited greatly under the euro. "Most economists are saying the best solution for Europe, if it's going to break up, is for Germany to leave. The mark would rise, the German economy would be dampened."

IW is the second German institute in two days to issue a blunt warning to the new Greek premier, Alexis Tsipras, who has vowed to halt debt payments and reverse austerity measures imposed by the EU-IMF Troika. The ZEW research group said on Tuesday that the EU authorities should order an immediate stress test of banks linked to Greece, and drive home the threat that they are willing to let a Greek default run its course rather than cave to pressure. “Europe should clearly signal that it is not susceptible to blackmail,” it said.

Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said in Brussels that debt forgiveness for Greece is out of the question. “Anybody discussing a haircut just shows they don’t know what they are talking about.” Mr Schäuble said he was sick of having to justify his rescue strategy. “We have given exceptional help to Greece. I must say emphatically that German taxpayers have handed over a great deal,” he said.

In a clear warning, he said the eurozone is now strong enough to withstand a major shock. “In contrast to 2010, the financial markets have faith in the eurozone. We face no risk of contagion, so nobody should think we can be put under pressure easily. We are relaxed,” he said.

Greece must repay €3.4 billion to the International Monetary Fund in February and March. Tax revenues have collapsed as Greeks preempt what they hope will be a repeal of austerity taxes. “There is only €1.9 billion left in the cash kitty, and the government has spending costs of $2.5 billion coming up. Somebody needs to lend the country money soon,” said Megan Greene, from Manulife Asset Management.

The Greek media reports that capital flight last week reached €10 billion as it became the clear that the amalgam of Maoists, ex-Leninists and radical socialists known as Syriza would win the election. Barclays estimates the outflow at €20 billion since early December, roughly 12 percent of GDP. The European Central Bank is for now stepping into the breach. Liquidity support for Greek banks spiked to €54 billion at the end of December, and is rising fast. If the ECB were to pull the plug, Greece would spiral into a systemic crisis immediately.

Yet that could in theory happen as soon February 28 when the temporary extension on Greece’s bail-out package expires. The final drama will occur in July and August when Greece has to repay €7 billion to the ECB. “It is absolutely certain that we can’t agree to any debt relief involving Greek bonds held by the ECB. That is legally impossible,” said Benoît Cœuré, an ECB board member.

Mr Tsipras’s decision to form a coalition with the right-wing ANEL, or Independent Greeks party - rather than the centrist Potami party - strongly suggests that he intends to force a showdown with the Troika. ANEL is a nationalist champion of the Greek Orthodox Church, opposed to immigration.

Wednesday saw a third consecutive day of double digit gains, with the index falling as much as 20 percent. National Bank of Greece, Piraeus, Alpha Bank and Eurobank all slumped, with up to €7.7 billion wiped off their combined market values since the election. Syriza’s Alexis Tsipras, who was sworn in as prime minister on Monday, on Tuesday appointed the economist Yanis Varoufakis, a fellow fierce opponent of European-imposed austerity, as Greece’s finance minister.

The move was seen as a further sign that Greece is on a collision course with the EU over repaying debt and maintaining its bail-out programme, which currently expires on February 28. Mr Varoufakis, who studied at the University of Essex, has described Greece’s austerity agreements as “fiscal waterboarding”. The bank sell-off pulled the Athens Stock Exchange down 6.4 percent on Wednesday amid further warnings that Syriza and its coalition partners, the right-wing Independent Greek party, will struggle to come to an agreement with the Troika of the ECB, International Monetary Fund and European Union.

There are, however, three problems.

The first is that it relies on the Greek government persuading its electorate that the debts have been reduced while all the other eurozone countries are simultaneously persuading their populations that they haven’t been. Expect arcane formulae and opaque language.

The second is that this isn’t a new trick. The interest rates paid by Greece on most of its debts have already been cut or suspended and the average loan period can be measured in decades rather than years. Just how low can interest rates get squeezed and how long can loan periods be extended before eurozone taxpayers realise that never-never means never?

The last is that Tsipras announced in his speech that he wants Greek debts halved. That amounts to around €160 billion of loans being written off. Amending and extending Greece’s debts will help finesse things a bit. But not that much. Perhaps the gap between expectations in Brussels and Athens really is irreconcilable.

Speaking at a conference in the kingdom, Khalid al-Falih, chief executive of Saudi Aramco - the country's state-run oil company - said: “Supply and demand and the rules of economics will govern. It will take time for the current glut to be removed.” He added that the kingdom was now pumping 9.8m bpd of oil, around 300,000 barrels more than its output measured by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

The kingdom has been the main catalyst within the cartel for pursuing a policy of allowing oil prices to fall in order to take back market share from producers outside Opec such as the US and Russia. In November, largely at Saudi Arabia's insistance, Opec members agreed to leave output unchanged at 30 million bpd, triggering a dramatic slump in the price of oil. Brent crude has fallen 60 percent since June and was trading at around $48 per barrel on Tuesday.

Nor, it seems, will those rockets be the end of the story. They were a response that could be carried out relatively quickly and easily, but we ought to presume that Hezbollah and Iran are also planning a more ambitious retaliation, which will take longer to prepare. Meanwhile, they’re maintaining the Golan Heights as an unstable, active front. The fact that the Mount Hermon ski resort was evacuated after Tuesday’s rocket attack was an ancillary benefit from their standpoint. They understand quite well that a single rocket every few days would be enough to paralyze the ski season.

Israel’s response was measured: a few artillery shells fired at the Syrian position from which the rockets were launched. This signaled to Hezbollah and Iran that Israel has a clear policy. A mass-casualty attack, or the opening of a new front, will elicit a severe response. But if its enemies don’t demonstratively cross its red lines, Israel will do everything it can to contain the escalation and prevent a war.