Burying neoliberalism

As I write, in late April of 2009, the citizens of rich capitalist societies are watching their jobs, wealth, and life plans being laid waste by an economic collapse every bit as ferocious as the crisis of the 1930s. Conservative parties and policies that only a short while ago were called midwives to an age of limitless prosperity built on free markets, small governments, and a stoical acceptance of the sufferings of the poor are now objects of popular ridicule and disgust. Employment and incomes are falling at a sickening rate, with the official American unemployment rate rising from 4.8 percent of the labor force in January 2008 to 8.5 percent as of April 2009. Even the most sober economic analysts are suggesting that one in ten American workers may be out of work by year's end. A housing boom turned bust has destroyed a global financial system once cited as proof that unregulated finance could convert greed into a cornucopia for the masses—if only ham-handed governments kept out of business affairs.