A few months ago there was widespread concern about Argentina. In each case the pattern is the same. Speculative capital pours into the country, attracted by expectations of a quick profit. The inflow helps to fuel, if not a boom, then at least the expansion of some sectors of the economy. Then something happens to scare the foreign investors -an economic setback or, as in the Turkish case, a political crisis, and panic sets in.
Money floods out as quickly as it entered in the first place.
And the IMF steps in to protect the interests of the speculators. The Turkish crisis underlines the fragility of the free market capitalism that currently dominates the world. It also dramatises its inhumanity. The price of last week's panic will be paid not by the foreign speculators or the Turkish ruling class, but by workers and peasants in the shape of lost jobs and lower living standards.