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

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

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.

Hope sustains life, but misplaced hope prolongs recessions.

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

The art of banking is always to balance the risk of a run with the reward of a profit. The tantalizing factor in the equation is that riskier borrowers pay higher interest rates. Ultimate safety - a strongbox full of currency - would avail the banker nothing. Maximum risk - a portfolio of loans to prospective bankrupts at usurious interest rates - would invite disaster. A good banker safely and profitably treads the middle ground.

Successful investing is about having people agree with you ... later.