> People whose faith on free markets have been challenged by the recent "troubles" have a potential crisis Humans acting stupidly and making bad decisions happ

> People whose faith on free markets have been challenged by the recent "troubles" have a potential crisis Humans acting stupidly and making bad decisions happens under all economic and political systems. People say things like, "Capitalism is rocky and prone to booms and busts..." but that's a bit off. Despotism, feudalism, slavery-based economies, communism, and so on have all had booms and busts. Humans make bad decisions regardless of how the conditions are. Regulated/unregulated, free/restricted, decentralized/centralized, it doesn't matter - people make bad decisions in all of these conditions. Throughout history, once bad decisions are made, people are willing to give themselves over to leaders who promise they have the answers and reassure people. These leaders create new power structures that may or may not help fix the problem. Once the emergency passes, the new power structures are retained and used to further agendas. This gradually leads to a legal code and government with complex and inconsistent laws, which is one of the reasons all nations and empires fall eventually. It's not specifically a capitalism/free market thing at all.