Forum Post: Which Treasury Secretary Delivered the First Bailout? Plus ca change

During the rise in bank scrip in 1791, Jefferson commented on the impact on the moral character of the nation; Chernow quotes him: “The spirit of gaming, once it has seized a subject, is incurable. The tailor who has made thousands in one day, though he has lost them the next, can never again be content with the slow and moderate earnings of his needle”. Also, Jefferson wrote to Washington, “It remains in a country whose capital is too small to carry its own commerce, to establish manufactures, erect buildings, etc., such sums should have been withdrawn from these useful pursuits to be employed in gambling”.

It seems that Hamilton’s fears of people “engaged in destructive short-term behavior” were realized on the very first event of his building of a market economy in the country. The interesting note here is Hamilton’s foresight, but also his lack of action. Today, the real estate rooted crash which almost took down the world economy was the result of the same “destructive short-term behavior”.

http://blog.readingthinkingandwriting.com/?p=9