2008年金融海嘯後，馬來西亞新任首相納吉迅速展開改革，鬆綁經濟管制。1985年時，首相馬哈迪也在經濟危機後推動自由化，減少政府介入市場。不過，納吉偏重解除管制，馬哈迪偏重私有化。本文發現，危機帶來自由化，係因危機破壞政治經濟雙元平衡，必須通過自由化重建平衡。至於改革方向不同，則因政治競爭結構不同。納吉同時面對種族間和種族內競爭，解除管制建立規則，有助於操作平衡。馬哈迪面對種族內競爭，私有化則可鞏固個人領導。

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial tsunami, the new Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, launched a series of reform initiatives to lessen economic regulation. Similarly, the former Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad promoted economic liberalization after the severe economic crisis of 1985-1986. While both initiatives were launched after crises, Najib placed the emphasis on deregulation while Mahatir focused on privatization. In discussing these initiatives, this paper reaches two conclusions. First, crises give birth to liberalization because they disturb the delicate balance between the dual sectors in the Malaysian political economy and this can only be restored through liberalization and openness. Second, the different directions of the reforms are attributed to differences in the structure of political competition. Under pressure from the co-existence of inter-racial and intra-racial competition, Najib resorted to rule-building through deregulation so as to strike a balance among different political groups. Mahatir, however, only faced intra racial competition and could build up his personal network through privatization.