"Asia's astonishing bounce-back" - this is the kind of headline that has started
to appear in recent months. Having apparently shrugged off the effects of the stock
markets crash in 1997, they are now anxiously looking for signs of revival in Asia and
Europe as proof that the world has avoided recession. Once more the advocates of the
so-called New Economic Paradigm proclaim the triumph of the free market. However, such
triumphalism lacks any semblance of a scientific basis. The serious representatives of
capital look with growing concern at the prospects for the world economy.