The bold, if unintended, experiment in economic and social systems, which began after World War II in Europe, did not come to a full resting place with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Despite the ebb and flow of governments of differing persuasions, the face of the world economy continues to edge evermore toward free market-oriented societies.
It is true in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Even many of the socialistic economies of Africa are embracing free market capitalism. The current crisis in East Asia is likely to hasten that trend as hard-learned lessons of economic structure lead to significant reform. The economies in crisis did not use central planning of the pervasive Soviet Union style.