Deja vu

Robert Kuttner sees parallels between the risks that resulted in the 1929 Crash and the risks in our 21st century economy. Here's his list:

• asset bubbles
• securitization of credit
• excessive use of leverage
• corruption of the gatekeepers
• failure of regulation to keep up with financial innovation
• the belief that markets are perfectly self-regulating.

It's this last parallel on which Kuttner focuses. In his view the regulators are more interested in protecting the speculator rather than the financial system.