It is a principle acknowledged by the words etched on the wall of the Center’s conference room, attributed to Mark Twain, “History does not repeat itself, but it can rhyme.” As an example, bank runs in many countries, including the United States, were common in the Depression.
Indeed, prior to the crisis the economies with the largest external imbalances were often outperforming their peers in terms of GDP growth: the larger the imbalance, the higher was the growth rate over the short run.