The foresight of financial experts was, as so often, a poor guide to the future. - John Kenneth Galbraith

dementia to come forward to capture the financial mind. It is also the time generally required for a new generation to enter the scene, impressed, as had been its predecessors, with its own innovative genius.

for the young Louis XV: Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans, was a man who combined a negligible intellect with deeply committed self-indulgence.

Increasing values again brought increasing values. As with the canals and turnpikes, it was transportation, this time the railroads, that was the focus of the speculation. Here the horizons seemed truly without limit. Who could lose on what was so obviously needed?