I believe that there is an important kernel of truth in the idea that financial errors recur every other generation.

It is an axiom nowadays that no bank fails for lack of capital; unprofitable lending is always the underlying cause.

The 1980s are to debt what the 1960s were to sex. The 1960s left a hangover. So will the 1980s.

Growth at an exceptional rate is a red flag in banking. It is hard enough to manage an ordinary bank; to control a sprouting weed is well-nigh impossible. If loans are expanding too quickly, the lending officers have probably been saying 'yes' too frequently.

In general, markets know more than the people who write about them.

To me the gold price takes the form of a very uncomplicated formula, and all you have to do is divide one by 'n.' And 'n', I'm glad you ask, 'n' is the world's trust in the institution of paper money and in the capacity of people like Ben Bernanke to manage it. So the smaller 'n', the bigger the price. One divided by a receding number is the definition of a bull market.

Credit is money of the mind.