La locura del "mercado libre" conservador

The credit crunch is testimony to the exhaustion of a conservative free-market world-view. To get through this crisis, the American and British governments are going to have to think what hitherto has been unthinkable. Already the Americans are cutting interest rates careless of the inflationary consequences. Britain may have to follow suit. Both governments will have to devise new forms of regulation and control. Banks may have to be taken into public ownership.

For 30 years we have been suckered into thinking that public authority has no business intervening in the wealth-generating, free-market financial system. This is the year when reality resurfaced with a vengeance.

Al final del día, ¿quién termina pagando los platos rotos, cuando los "negocios" privados como los bancos quiebran? Claro, el público que paga impuestos. Desde el punto de vista ultra-conservador del "mercado", las utilidades deben privatizarse, mientras que las pérdidas deben socializarse. Esa es la butal realidad de México. Pero por lo visto no estamos solos en eso. En México se han "reprivatizado" carreteras 3 veces, bancos se han rescatado y vuelto a rescatar, los negocios azucareros, aerolíneas... ¿Hasta cuándo vamos a decir YA BASTA?