At the latest, when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, it briefly seemed as if the last hour of neoliberalism had struck: After the mantra of the market and privatization had been on everyone's lips since the 1970s, governments were now expected to intervene to save systemically important banks. The competence of business leaders was massively called into question. Today, just three years later, managers are once again receiving huge bonuses. Social benefits are being cut to refinance the rescue packages. The logic of radical competition and entrepreneurial self-interest still shapes our mentality. How is this possible? This question is posed by Colin Crouch in his major new essay. The author of the widely acclaimed bestseller "Post-Democracy" traces the intellectual history of neoliberalism and emphasizes that the conflict is between the state.