... early instance of the impulse that led to the repeal of Glass-Steagall ~ the troubling demands of the Eastern Money Center banks for sound collateral for loans interfered with the desire of the Western Pioneers for liquidity and for state chartered banks willing to provide that liquidity through extreme leverage.

Wasn't it in Michigan where there were two barrels of gold bullion, which did a leap frog along the path of the bank inspector, with the one barrel at the bank that the bank inspector was inspecting, and the other barrel making the journey from the bank that had just been visited to the bank about to be visited next.

There are also the stories of the reserves of hard currency, also in barrels, with the top fifth of the barrel full of silver and the bottom four fifths full of nails.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.