The current financial meltdown isn’t the largest nor the first of its kind. We’ve had our fair share and we’ll probably have them in the future. Neatorama has a great list of them that includes highlights like
The Panic of 1907
Wall Street crash of 1929
Great Depression
1973 Oil Crisis
Black Monday
Savings and Loan Crisis
Long Term Capital Bailout
Dot-com Bubble
California Energy Crisis
If you’ve got ten minutes its high time to bone up on boneheaded things we’ve done to the economy. Do you think we’ll learn from our mistakes this time? nah
Don’t have time for commentary, but you should check this article out (before your eyes are on hiatus!):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/magazine/05Davis-t.html
I actually did have a chance to read that – congress has been woefully ineffective for far too long and the executive branch has gained quite a bit of power over the past eight years
something needs to be done
Another disgustingly ironic event:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7660409.stm