I keep running into people who claim that capitalism is dead, Chicago is destroyed (i.e. the pro market sentiments long espoused by economics and related faculty at the University of Chicago), markets have been shown to be as effectively debunked as communism, and so forth.
I must confess I don't follow. The financial crisis certainly did draw the status quo into question, but that status quo was far from a "free market." It was more like Mancur Olson's old society crippled by special interests. The crisis showed that a huge part of our economy was FUBAR (let's say "fouled up" beyond all recognition). Why was it FUBAR? Not due to market or political forces alone but rather both of them acting in concert. Fannie and Freddie were the epitome of that!
Other areas of the economy are also FUBAR and I'm happy to announce that it looks like I've found a publisher for a book exposing them. With luck and some good writing, maybe I will be able to get enough people's attention to stop the next meltdown. Maybe.
