Eighty years ago this fall the stock market crashed, which was followed by the Great Depression. That catastrophe, coming on the heels of World War I, destroyed the faith countless numbers of people had in democratic politics and traditional free markets. The Depression itself was portrayed as proof positive that markets are inherently unstable and that government plays a crucial and necessary role in preventing them from flying off the tracks. The same refrain is being heard again today as the economy begins a halting recovery from the disastrous financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007.
