Monday, March 15, 2010

The 21st Century Opus of Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

In 1841 Charles MacKay published Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds which describes phenomena such as 'national delusions, 'peculiar follies' and 'philosophical delusions'. If Mackay were alive today he most certainly would include the recent Wall Street fiasco with events such as the South Sea Bubble and the infamous Dutch Tulip Mania.
On March 14th Sixty Minutes did a piece on the MBS and CDS induced 'panic' which gripped Wall Street--and as a consequence the rest of the world --which can be viewed below.
Several buzzwords come to mind while viewing this video.
  • incompetence
  • delusion
  • greed
  • hubris
  • malfeasance
  • corruption
  • condescension
There are many other monikers and adjectives that come to mind but I try to keep this blog free of profanity.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing this Pete. The plot of radical financial evil thickens...."If you pay enough, then they will not see the truth.....Wall Street deluded itself." (M. Lewis)
    10-12 investors "at most" involved? And Bond holders beware: Moody's rates crap as AAA?
    OK....if we are thinking about Nuclear Weapons and the current political order, then can we learn something from Delusional Thinking on Wall Street?

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