Washington Irving: Critic of Loose Money
During the Panic of 1819, the well-known American author, Washington Irving (of "Sleepy Hollow" fame), was enjoying a prolonged trip to Europe. During his sojourn there, he turned his hand to a treatment of that earlier moral fable of financial hubris and nemesis, the Mississippi Bubble. So vivid is the description of the background to the folly — and so utterly unchanging is the course of the pathology there laid out — that an extended quote, taken from the collection of essays entitled "The Crayon Papers," is surely merited for our instruction. FULL ARTICLE
Comments (3)
Well done! What a fine example of applying theoretical insight with literature and history to show the absolute thick headedness with which we continue to puzzle over what causes business cycles.
Published: February 27, 2007 9:39 AM
Thank you very much. Here's a great example of applying the historical "school of hard-knocks" to our own situation, for which anglo-american (neo-classical) economics has little meaningful insight to offer.
Published: February 27, 2007 10:11 AM
Great article.
I swear on the bible this is the 4th time I've read one of Sean's articles without first looking at who authored it and said to myself halfway thru "This prose sounds like Sean Corrigan."
By god I'm 4 for 4. Something about Sean's energetic, witty and surgeon-like critiques on monetary conditions and government intervention is something to be said for.
Good work. Very unique writing and prose.
Published: February 28, 2007 9:37 PM