Forum Post: Quote from Galbraith (the Elder) for the Day of Action

Quote from the 1961 Introduction to “The Great Crash, 1929” by John Kenneth Galbraith, pp. xxi-xxii, published by Houghton Mifflin Company

“Even in such a time of madness as the late twenties, a great many men in Wall Street remained quite sane. But they also remained very quiet. The sense of responsibility in the financial community for the community as a whole is not small. It is nearly nil. Perhaps this is inherent. In a community where the primary concern is making money, one of the necessary rules is to live and let live. To speak out against madness may be to ruin those who have succumbed to it. So the wise in Wall Street are nearly always silent. The foolish thus have the field to themselves. None rebukes them. There is always the fear, moreover, the even needful self-criticism may be an excuse for government intervention. That is the ultimate horror.”