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This Time Is Different

Eight Centuries of Financial Folly
Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Pima County Public Library.
Nov 15, 2011johnsankey rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A technical book, very heavy going for the non-specialist. It's message is, however, critical for all to understand. When institutions lend more than they own, as all banks do today, any interruption of public confidence results in a crisis. When governments issue currency whose intrinsic value is less than its face value (all paper currency), any interruption of public confidence also results in a crisis. These crises of confidence have been a recurring fact of economies all over the world for 800 years. Every time, authorities say "this time is different", assuming that they know more than their predecessors did. As the book details exhaustively, they are always wrong. It's essential that we all understand that financial meltdowns are inevitable whenever either of the two conditions mentioned exist, and prepare for them.