ABSTRACT
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2008a report there re were as many as 112 systemic banking crises from the late 1970s up to 2001. Punjab recorded worse figures that most other provinces, with a death rate of 4.2% per population. Allusions of the ultimate eruption of speculative fever on Wall Street stretched as far back as 1920, when investors had rushed to invest in the scheme operated by Carlo Ponzi, and to 1925, when the boom in Florida real estate was exposed as a bubble. Certainly, the imposing run-up in stock values from 1927 onward plainly evidenced the threat overspeculation posed not just to investors but also to banks and brokerages. Many conglomerates also demonstrated huge earnings growth. Prices rose, with many stocks on the New York Stock Exchange touching their record margins on September.
