Blast from the past/ समाजवादी की वापसी

The grey haired generation (GenX, in Web language) among us will remember the halycon 70s when all banks in India were nationalized in one stroke. Over the last 6 months as the credit crunch assumed crisis proportions

• The UK government nationalized Northern Rock Bank
• The US Federal Reserve assisted the buy out of failing Bear Stearns by J. P. Morgan
• as well as the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America
• and propped up mortgage institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
• On a related note, the Italian government has left no stone unturned to save Alitalia.

More than 10 years ago, the dot.com collapse left investors and entrepeneurs with huge losses, but no government agency intervened. That it is doing so now indicates the gravity of the situation, probably for a huge number of people. Governments have to step in when crises go out of hand. So, were the critics of unbridled laissez faire capitalism correct? Aren't these acts of socialism, a much maligned word in a post-WTO world?