Do we have the capability to eliminate booms and busts in economic activity? The answer in my judgment is no, because there is no tool to change human nature. Too often people are prone to recurring bouts of optimism and pessimism.
June 11, 2014
It’s 9:30 in the morning at the New York Stock Exchange. A man presses a button that rings a bell and opens the exchange for business. Behind him is a giant billboard with 500 individual lights. Each light represents one of the 500 stocks in the S&P Index. On a typical day 485 bulbs may flash green signifying stocks that are...