The Banking Crisis of 1837 and more

This morning the House passed the Bill formerly known as the Bailout. I understand from the radio news moments ago that the President has signed the bill. Interestingly the markets have not responded by soaring upward with enthusiasm. One of the discussion points about this financial crisis in the past week or so has been the idea that we should never let this happen again and should "learn the lessons from what happened". Great concept. As someone who's actively involved in the "history business" I applaud the idea. However, I am a little cynical as well. The events of this crisis and its precursors are only the most recent in a string of American financial tumults. The banking crisis of 1837 has parallels which could have been instructive for us today as does the crash of the late 1920s and its fallout. The truth is, Americans and our governmental representatives also have a history, and frequently that history has been to ignore the lessons of history. Looking forward and treating today's opportunity as the chance to remake oneself (or the country) from whole cloth is a charming characteristic of the American character except when it isn't. The willful aversion to thinking through whether the hard lessons of the past are relevant or not is a terrible corollary trait. I keep hoping that maybe this time we'll act differently. The composition of the "bailout" bill and the dialogue around it does not make this seem likely today. We'll see.