Celebrate this Bastille Day by getting to know a good French economist, Guy Sorman, whose refreshing thesis is that, financial crisis notwithstanding, “free-market capitalism, informed by classical liberal economic theory” is far from dead; in fact, it is the only economic system that has not been discredited. My only quibble with Sorman’s book is that he sometimes overstates the degree to which economists have reached a consensus on certain, er, refinements of the system:

Sorman admits that the short-term benefits of fiscal stimulus are “hotly debated,” but he implies that there is a consensus on the long-term costs: inflation, higher interest rates, and wasted resources. In fact, the economists who pushed for the first stimulus package (and at least one Nobel laureate is pushing for another) have downplayed these consequences. Relax, they say: Policymakers have the tools to stave off hyperinflation or scale back massive indebtedness. They disingenuously fail to note that these tools (tight monetary controls, big tax increases, and deep spending cuts) are like the shiny new ratchet set your mechanically disinclined dad got for Father’s Day in 1998: rarely used.

To be sure, the Keynesian clique calling for another round of stimulus is pretty small, compared to the list of economists who opposed the first one. Unfortunately, the Keynesians have the ear of the president — and the media.