Assorted historical stuff:
Resolution introduced by Congressman Sabath to form a committee to investigate whether “the tremendous professional shortselling of stock on the various exchanges was responsible for the November, 1929, and present 'crashes,' and to what extent it is responsible for the depression of business.” Will also look into taxing short sales or outlawing them completely.
American Institute of Banking decides on educational program with theme of “less speculation and more thrift.”>>>MORE
Multiple tips o' Climateer's cap, I'll link to the WSJ's Real Time Economics blog for this comment:
Lesson From the Depression: Different This Time?
Economists are increasingly confident that the U.S. isn’t in for a repeat of the Great Depression, but comparisons keep on coming.
One particularly interesting project is a blog that is looking at news from the Wall Street Journal in 1930. (Hat tip, Scott Sumner) Some of the similarities are spooky. For example, “A Turn of the Tide Near” … “It cannot be imagined that the wholesale failures and interest defaults characteristic of earlier depressions will now be repeated. Confidence in our banking system wholly precludes the money panics of former eras.”>>>MORE