In recent weeks, as the scale of the world's crisis has shifted from worry about buying holiday toys to worry about standing in bread lines, one government after another has stepped into the markets. Attempting to right the financial ship, London, Berlin and now even Washington are buying up stakes in financial institutions. And as governments wade into private business, they have sparked media coverage, particularly among conservatives, warning of a return of Big Brother. WE'RE ALL SOCIALISTS NOW, COMRADE, Britain's Daily Telegraph declared in one headline.
Yet in recent...