Surprise! Modern, sophisticated people do foolish things. And we've been here before...

An article in the New York Times describes interesting research by economists Reinhart and Rogoff. It seems that people aren't as smart or sophisticated as they like to think:

“Everyone wants to think they’re smarter than the poor souls in developing countries, and smarter than their predecessors,” says Carmen M. Reinhart, an economist at the University of Maryland. “They’re wrong. And we can prove it.”

Their recently-published book, This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly describes the results of their work. The book describes common patterns of economic downturns, providing insight into our current situation. Though some think it's a bit dry and academic, it's suggested reading for those interested in economic history.