This crisis has proved that capitalism works. The G8 protesters have little support – there’s no public appetite to blame the free market... on the whole they don’t seem to be fulminating about the free market system as such. It’s financial excess that is blamed for our travails, not market failure.
Discuss, as the exam rubric goes. I'll chuck in a couple of thoughts. First of all, I strongly agree with Warner's pivotal statement: "Capitalism is nothing if not supremely adaptable" - which trumps all your leftists and euro-dirigistes every time. But actually, it isn't really just capitalism: it's the whole ruthless 'Anglo-Saxon' policy-making complex that au fond has a stronger grip on how markets actually work, and what the tools and levers are - and isn't afraid to use them. (Bailing out banks isn't intrinsically capitalist at all). Again, these are advantages often not shared by your lefties and dirigistas (although that Mario Draghi seems to know a thing or two).
Secondly, he has some sensible things to say about Anglo-Saxon labour-market flexibility - particularly his observation that this has virtually nothing to do with government intervention. At least, not direct intervention in the crisis: there were certainly interventions in the 1980's to diminish the powers of UK unions, for example.
The final point though, surely, is that it's not over yet - despite the recent rash of upbeat pronouncements, which seem to me to be premature in the extreme. As Warner says, bailing out banks and printing money "are creating massive distortions that may be piling up problems for the future." Oh yes indeed.
ND
