[T]he first bad bank loan was no doubt made around the time of the opening of the first bank.

It's about bums on seats. If nobody wants to listen to what you are doing, it kind of defeats the purpose really, doesn't it?

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.

[C]apitalism without financial failure is not capitalism at all, but a kind of socialism for the rich.

Progress is cumulative in science and engineering, but cyclical in finance.

Debt is always repaid, either by the borrower or by the lender.

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