For centuries economists have been analysing how regulations governing the operation of markets may improve the workings of an economic system. In the past twenty years, particularly in the United States, there has emerged a large body of research which analyses the role of a particular type of...

In October of 1987 stock market prices all over the world fell by staggering amounts. A financial panic spreading beyond stock markets did not occur and it would appear that any real economic consequences of the crash have, thus far, been small. A superficial reading of economic history suggests...