What is irrational about factoring in such fundamentals when trading a currency?

One aspect that could be studied in this regard is the aspect of punishment for rash and negligent driving.

One cannot help but wonder how thoughtlessly Europe s politicians have started down this slippery slope.

One camp argued that it would be reckless to create a monetary union before economic policies had converged and institutional reforms were complete.

Both disregard the fact that rationality depends as much on individuals imperfect understandings of history and society as on their motivation.

The financial sector s inexcusable recklessness, given free rein by mindless deregulation, was the obvious precipitating factor of the crisis.

One high ranking policymaker noted in mid July, This is truly shocking We understand politics, but your government s continued recklessness is astonishing.

It is time to heed the fundamental laws of economics and put a stop to the imprudence that those charged with fighting the crisis have been allowed to get away with.

Indeed, in the very week that Putin was meddling in Ukraine s presidential election, he was threatening to blockade one of those statelets, Georgia s Abkhazia region, after it had the temerity to vote for a president the Kremlin did not like.

It is time to heed the fundamental laws of economics and put a stop to the imprudence that those charged with fighting the crisis have been allowed to get away with.

The implications for the present are important the only palatable way in which the necessary balance between liability and security can be achieved is through a process of political reform that dissolves corrupt oligarchies and weakens incentives for fiscal imprudence.

The ritual tells us that we are desperately zealous people, seeking mirrors that show our heroes as beautiful, youthful, and exceptional that we are fascinated with a form of death that freezes our illusions into permanent images, like Evita's embalmed corpse.

While it would be rash to forecast a double dip as the most likely outcome for the economy during the rest of this year, many of us are raising the odds that we attribute to such a downturn. Unfortunately, those forecasts of what might happen remain hidden.

Back in the early 1990's, American officials like me who were making long term forecasts for the Clinton administration cautioned that it would be rash to forecast an average long run growth rate of more than 2.5 per year and that actual growth might turn out to be even slower.

The financial sector s inexcusable recklessness, given free rein by mindless deregulation, was the obvious precipitating factor of the crisis. The legacy of excess real estate capacity and over leveraged households makes recovery all the more difficult.

Omit either a market penalty now for behavior that may become reckless or the institutional levers that give a voice to future generations, and you run grave risks perhaps not today or tomorrow, but someday, and for the rest of your life.