Introduction

This year's lectures, titled the rule of law and its enemies, are given by the economic historian, professor neil ferguson. His argument is that western civilization, dominant for the last 500 years, now faces a crisis as the institutions that made it so powerful fail to day. In his second lecture, he's wading into the heart of things with his controversial views on the recent near collapse of our banking system. The first draft of the history of the financial crisis is in, and here's what it says. Deregulation in the two decades after the election of ronald regan led to the disappearance of thrift from american society and to excessive risk taking by