The Biggest Bubble In History: Fraud

Bursting Gas Bubble 60 Light Years Across. Courtesy of ESA   The housing bubble which burst in 2007 or so was the biggest bubble of all time. Many argue that the bubble in U.S. bonds has surpassed the housing bubble as the largest ever. Of course, given that the derivatives market is more than a thousand trillion dollars, and that is is backed by thousands of times less collateral, a good case can be made for arguing that derivatives are the biggest bubble. But if you really think about it, the largest bubble in history is fraud, because it includes all of the above and more. Specifically, the housing crisis was caused by fraud.  The government encouraged fraud, and helped cover it up. Huge swaths of the derivatives market are manipulated by fraud.  See this, this, this and this. But instead of cracking down on the fraud, the government is backing it. And the bubble in b...