Happy birthday Black Thursday!

Today is the 80th anniversary of the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Its an interesting time to reflect back on the 80 long years that have passed by to see if things have changed. Have they? The more boom/bust cycles look different the more they look the same.

So what lessons have we learnt?

- That hope has driven - and will always drive - people to monetary dope.
- That lending schools eventually end up bending rules.
- That a borrowing binge frequently ends in a harrowing cringe.
- That in a boom...greed goes up, fear down.
- That after the bust, greed dies and fear gains renown.
- That in a boom...an allusion to delusion is dismissed as an illusion.
- That after a bust...the delusion of an illusion leads to reclusion.
- That people buy when they should sell, ignoring the alarm bell.
- That people sell when they should buy, ignoring the market's sigh.
- That when we hear things get cheaper as they rise and dearer as they fall, its time for Cindrella to leave the ball.
- That the 'smart money' ain't that smart after all.
- That after a market chasm, capitalism gives way to socialism.
- That the prudent end up paying, while the indulgent end up staying.

...That history is doomed to repeat itself...

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