James Grant--one of the most skeptical, insightful, and witty writers on the adventures and foibles of financial markets--chronicles the various epidemics of investment excesses that have erupted over the past decade in his new book, Mr. Market Miscalculates (Axios Press, November 2008). Grant investigates, among other topics, mass psychology in...

Economic and financial cycles are natural and cannot be avoided.

In spite of a 1,500-page financial-regulatory bill, Congress has made no move toward fixing the government's massive blunder at the center of the housing bubble and crisis, namely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.