Capitalism

While there is no denying that markets have failed, there is certainly no lack of government failure either. There is a danger, nevertheless, that governments, the media and special interest groups will seize on the opportunity to use the economic downturn for their own purposes. And that is the challenge of this economic downturn.

These are difficult times for liberals. The mood around the world is turning against them. Politicians find it easier to blame crazy economists and greedy managers for financial turmoil than to understand and fix their own mistakes. Free-marketers still have the evidence of economic history on their side, but they will have to make their case more forcefully from now on. They face a constant battle of ideas that can never be decisively won. But they can take consolation in the fact that today’s swing to the left will not spell the end of history, let alone of capitalism.