Charles Kindleberger argues that most, if not all, financial manias, panics, and crashes were market failures deriving from the irrational behavior of human actors. Both his notion of rationality and his interpretation of the sources of financial crises are open to question. A broader notion of rationality enables us to distinguish actual crises from cases of fraud or entrepreneurial error, and a closer look at financial history illustrates the ways in which government regulation, not human irrationality, has been the source of financial disorder.
Government intervention: Source or scourge of monetary order?
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.