Central banks cannot prevent speculative bubbles from arising because – I quote again from the testimony before the Hungarian parliamentary commission – “the only means [to prevent the emergence of crises] would be to curtail the entrepreneurial spirit and we cannot count on such moderation, as the pursuit of quickly gained wealth will always be one of the prime moving forces of mankind”.
2 You would probably agree that “the pursuit of quickly gained wealth” is still one of the “prime moving forces of mankind” today and the hope for “moderation” is as elusive these days as it was as back in the 19th century.