Right Over Left

In an intriguing Bloomberg column, Matthew Lynn names what he says are the winners and losers of the recession: historians over economists, Germany over Britain, frugality over extravagance, hedge funds over banks ("the lightly regulated, cash-rich hedge funds will grow in importance, while the tightly controlled, capital- constrained banks stagnate") and right over left. It may be hard to see a government takeover of banks and automakers (with health care maybe on the way) as a victory for the right, but Mr. Lynn tries to make the case: "Lenin would have led the overthrow of a dozen governments presented with an opportunity like this. But his heirs on the left failed to advance any cogent arguments. Nor did they develop any alternatives to free-market, finance-led capitalism...Center-right parties will remain in power, as in Germany or France, or recapture it, as in Britain. And it will stay that way for a long time." This seems to overlook American politics. But Americans often make the error of overlooking European politics, so Mr. Lynn's argument may be a useful corrective. Still, when Warren Buffett is hailing three government employees -- Ben Bernanke, Henry Paulson, and Timothy Geithner -- as the crisis's "heroes," it's hard to see it all as a victory for "free-market, finance-led capitalism."