SICP example WTF?

; Works fine
(define (factorial n)
  (if (> n 1)
    (* n (factorial (- n 1)))
    1))

; Interpreter freezes
(define (new-if predicate then-clause else-clause)
  (if predicate
    then-clause
    else-clause))

(define (factorial n)
  (new-if (> n 1)
    (* n (factorial (- n 1)))
    1))