Their blossoms come into full bloom every spring so as to make us feel eternal peace and serenity, regardless of economic cycles, market swings, and in particular, financial crises. Alan Greenspan once described the “Lehman Crisis of 2008” as a “once-in-a-century type event”.1 And now we are facing the “Eurozone Crisis of 2011”.
Some say the potential magnitude of the fallout from this latter crisis may approach that of the former unless appropriate measures are devised and implemented promptly. Thus, we have experienced two once-in-a-century events within three years. Indeed, this is quite extraordinary.