I just finished reading a book about the Middle Ages. The parallels between the early twelvth century and the present are striking. I'll attempt to list some of them.
At that time, Europe was faced with several famines resulting from successive crop failures, because of extremes of weather, in this case, wetter and colder. We aren't having famine, but we are having destructive hurricanes, resulting from Global Warming.
The tenth and eleventh centuries were a period of intense innovation. It was an "pre-industrial revolution". After this time there was a decrease in manufacturing and a resistence to innovation. There was a huge cloth manufacturing complex in Flanders employing many thousands of people. These people were thrown out of work by the English cutting off their wool supply. We are seeing the same as we export manufacturing jobs to China. Why innovate if you can make so much money by cutting costs?
The Black Death arrived in 1347 and resulted in a huge decrease in population. We now worry about possible pandemic flu and SARS, not to mention AIDS.
The Hundred Years War was a period of constant warfare between France and England. We seem to be entering a prolonged period of war with Muslim World.
Humanist thought and rationalism lead by such people as Roger Bacon gave way to mysticism. The Church condemnation of the 219 doctrines brought to an end the attmpt to marry faith and reason. We are now facing similar retrenchment in the form of Intelligent Design and attempts by the church to ban abortion and research on embryonic stem cells.
Defecit spending by government was something we also have in common with 14th Century France.
I must admit I am not much of a scholar of history, but these things seemed obvious to me.