Martin Wolf, the world's preeminent financial journalist, responds to Simon Johnson's The Quiet Coup.

Is the US Russia?

The question seems provocative, if not outrageous.

The answer is Yes, but only up to a point.

Wolf continues:

Unquestionably, we have witnessed a massive rise in the significance of the financial sector. Now, the golden age of Wall Street is over. And I agree with the critique of the policies adopted so far.

Yet do these weaknesses make the US into Russia? No. Like Japan, the US is caught between the elite's fear of bankruptcy and the public's loathing of bail-outs. This is a more complex phenomenon than the "quiet coup" Prof Johnson describes.

According to Wolf, Americans can sleep soundly because the corruption is still relatively covert.

From the archive:

The average Afghan spends one-fifth of his income on bribes.

Cutting back financial capitalism is America's big test