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Very, is the short answer. Back in 2000 in a speech to the Labour party conference Gordon Brown said “We will not put hard won economic stability at risk. No return to short-termism. No return to Tory boom and bust” and he went on to ask “why did the Tory party give Britain 20 years of stop-go, 20 years of boom and bust? It is Labour that is now the party for stability and growth.”

Any fiscal reputation the Labour government has surely now been ruined. Yet even now – commensurate with a bump in the polls – the prime minister is still claiming to be the best man for the job. “No time for a novice” was his rallying battle cry – happily clouding over the fact it was his stewardship of the UK economy that eased us into this mess.

And with free market capitalism crumbling, what else can we do? More regulation seems certain, more restrictions a definite. Is it time to come clean and admit we’re closer to a Russian-style managed economy than we’ve ever been before?

Think what happens in Moscow when the markets collapse: they close the markets. Simple. The heat diffuses and inevitably the indices trickle ever higher as calm sets in. Malaysia did something similar at the height of the Asian crisis: its currency under attack, it closed the exchange markets. It was criticised by the multi-lateral organisations at the time, yet it survived and thrived in the face of falling markets.

So as we hoist the red flag over Investment Adviser, cracking open the Cava to celebrate the death of capitalism, just remember: better Red than dead.