“A crisis is a strange way to celebrate an anniversary.” This is the wry judgment of Erik Berglöf, chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.* Yet a crisis is what we see in countries that began the march from communism two decades ago. So, has capitalism failed, as communism did? In a word, “no”. Some transition countries are in crisis; transition is not. The same judgment applies elsewhere: capitalist countries are in crisis; capitalism itself is not. But reform is necessary. The great virtue of liberal democracies and market economies is their ability to reform and adapt. They have shown these qualities before. They must do so once again.
「危機是一種慶祝週年紀念日的奇特方式。」歐洲復興開發銀行(EBRD)首席經濟學家艾瑞克•博格洛夫(Erik Berglof)如此語帶嘲諷地評價*。不過，我們從那些20年前脫離共產主義的國家中看到的就是危機。這是否說明，資本主義已經步共產主義後塵，也失敗了呢？簡單地說：「沒有」。一些轉型期國家陷於危機，但轉型本身並沒有。同樣的論斷也適用於別處：資本主義國家身陷危機，但資本主義本身並沒有。但改革是必要的。自由民主體制和市場經濟的特長就是有能力改革和適應。它們以前曾展露過這些才能，現在，它們必須再一次這樣做。