History has a way of repeating itself in financial matters because of a kind of sophisticated stupidity John Kenneth Gailbraith once wrote. In a powerful demonstration of how we can learn from history, Professor Buckley analyses in depth the most devastating financial crises of the last quarter-century. He identifies the factors that can coalesce to trigger a financial crash. He then offers well-thought through legal measures to regulate these factors so as to prevent or minimise crises and to better protect those most vulnerable to international financial volatility: the poor in poor countries.