The author touched upon some very thought provoking points.From a financial novices' perspective,I get the impression that there is an underlying element of non-determinalism(chaos) which operates on a scale which ,in terms of the assorted financial markets,the world has only passed the threshold of rather recently.Isn't it ironic too how something as deterministic as accounting mutates into something so unpredictable as ,say ,derivitive trading!

After all,if you boil it down,it's just a game.A BIG game,but nontheless a game.Combine that with the notion of corporations as just so many versions of "th Great OZ",and we can expect to see a steady line of individuals who have taken up the reins of power in this or that trading division whose ego will not allow them to not "grab the tiger by the tail".

Typically the in's and out's of financial activities are mind numbingly boring to almost everyone.Were that not the case no doubt many more examples of big time losses would get some presstime in mainstream media.

Where does the whole thing leave us as individuals?Clearly the assorted markets do serve a definate purpose.Just as clearly there is a danger of bad things appening on scales never seen before.We as individuals have several degrees of separation,but what level of protection is appropriate?Can we as a society(s)even exert any real control?Is there a point and place where Laissez-Faire economics must exert itself?

Perhaps the immense growth of the world economy during the last couple hundred years has just been an appetizer for the next few decades!My personal hunch is that we have only seen a glimpse of what is to come.As our political entities and our data processing abilities mature they should enable the global economy to undergo a literal "Big Bang" at some point.I kind of think alot of us will be here to see some of it too.

Hehe ,guess I just got to rambling a bit......

btw Wildbill, are you the backgammon player who used to play poker in N Seattle?