HAS CAPITALISM failed us? We hope not, it’s the best system based on the human nature of greed and ambition. But looking at the Euro zone it seems the system has become very sick – even the US is in trouble.

The crash of Lehman Brothers Bank was partly responsible for the recession in US and the domino effect throughout Europe, causing a recession which is still hurting us all.

There were other reasons, such as the two largest building societies in the world in US selling bonds to our banks.

It’s the greed which keeps it going but also causes its downfall.

Many investors were advised Lehman Brothers was a safe investment. Also, many advisors offered Bernard Maddoff’s pyramid scheme as a good investment, but when it collapsed, fingers were burned and reputations damaged.

More recently, Alan Stanford managed to persuade enough investors to part with £7 billion which paid for a luxury lifestyle until he was caught, just like Maddoff.

Capitalism has the ability to recover and succeed as no other system can replace it, but it has many flaws and many crooks who take advantage of the greed which helps to drive it.

Dennis Barton, Woodthorpe, York.