This week a NY Times article: To see a stock market bubble bursting, look at Shanghai, reminded me of some familiar human themes. In the past 2 years, Asian stocks had gone through an incredible bubble.

Chinese share prices had climbed 500%, setting off a national stock buying frenzy. As the fever peaked last year, people were quitting regular jobs to day trade shares full time. Millions were lining up around the block to open broker trading accounts. "Everybody was talking about how much they had earned, how much more they would invest, and which stocks had jumped 20, or even 30 times."

Then the bubble burst. Since market highs last October, the Shanghai composite index has plunged 45%. In India and Japan stock prices have plunged 31%, in Vietnam a whopping 53%. Now people are angry and distraught, crying and burning a security regulator effigy in the street. Families are straining under the financial stress and the regret of capital now evaporated. Many people were trading on borrowed money desperately levering themselves into the soaring markets.

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