Europe’s economies. A new pecking order

Editorial suggests that the global economic crisis has meant that there has been a change in Europe’s balance of economic power laissez-faire capitalism (the Angle-Saxon model) is seen as a broken system and dirigisme (the French way) the fashion of the moment - Statist France is now on top, corporatist Germany in the middle and poor old liberal Britain floored. However, the writer goes on to argue don’t expect it to last for long. What sort of economy works best in the modern world? Forecasts are that the United States and Britain could rebound from recession faster than most of continental Europe.