This is a strange article, because I imagine if you were given the forum you must have some kind of qualifications, but I am not even an economist, only a student of economics, and I saw numerous half-truths and flat out mistakes. First of all, the Fed was created in 1913, and government intervention was not created to save us from the Depression, it preceeded it. Second of all, inflation results when too much money is created. The Fed creates the money, and the Fed is responsible for inflation, not the free market.

Thirdly, while not solely responsible, the government played a part in the subprime crisis. The Community Reinvestment Act and an earlier government bailout both contributed to the mess.

I would also be very interested to see the writer quantify his statement about the 'extraordinary fragility' of the modern capitilasist system. Perhaps he is not familiar with the incredible failures of the communist/socialist systems which he seems to be slyly endorsing.

I was truly astounded at the personal bias and historical ignorance of this column. If I had more than 1,000 words I would gladly offer a better examination of these basic historical/economic facts, but as a man who is given the pulpit to influence thousands of readers, I am sure that andrew knows what he's talking about.

Also, to add to my last post, I want to address the statement on the inequality of wealth. Capitalism does not, and has never, claimed to offer universal equality of wealth, it strives instead for universal prosperity. This is different. The fact is that the lower class in America have it better than the vast majority of the world. The fact is also that, in communist countries throughout history, the people were economically equal (well, except for those people with the right political clout), yes, they were econonimcally equal in abject poverty. China's gains have been in direct proportion to their easing of economic restrictions. Everyone who responded so eagerly to this ridiculous article needs to think these things through a little better. The obvious answer is rarely the right one.