“Under the surface of the governmental regulation of the securities market, the same forces that produced the riotous speculative excesses of the ‘wild bull market’ of 1929 still give evidences of their existence and influence. Though repressed for the present, it cannot be doubted that, given a suitable opportunity, they would spring back into pernicious activity.”

The words above could have been written any time within the past 18 months. They describe the author's conviction that banks and investors are quick to forget the lessons of past crises, that boom is inevitably followed by bust, and that the forces that lead to economic revival can help lead to financial destruction.