“Freedom!” is a perennial rallying cry, but “free markets!” never had the same ring to it, even in years where the record of free markets looked impressive. This has not been one of those years. So was 2008 the year that capitalism died? And if not, is 2009 the year that we should put capitalism out of its misery? Our answers: no, and no.

At a time when so many commentators hark back to 1929, it is worth recalling more recent history, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The contrast between the end of communism then and the much-exaggerated death of capitalism now is telling. Then, a popular movement swept away a brutal and long-discredited regime amid scenes of jubilation; now, voters are not celebrating, simply fretting that the good times might be over. Then, the hoped-for alternative to communism was clear: democracy and a market economy. Today, there is no convincing alternative.