After starting his career as a schoolteacher, Ralph decided to change the direction of his life in order to explore the world of business and finance. Over the next two and a half decades, he was involved in a number of large property development and social care ventures throughout South Yorkshire. This activity was eventually overlapped with the trading of stocks, derivatives, and foreign exchange. During this time, he was on hand to witness three of the ‘boom and bust’ scenarios depicted in this book, through their formative phase, at their climax, and in their devastating aftermath. Ralph’s decision to start writing Bubbles, Crashes and Financial Disasters, in fact emanated from these memories.
Throughout history, the allure of promising opportunities has often ignited a speculative frenzy, arousing the get-rich-quick syndrome in millions of credulous souls, driving them to the extremes of ambition and greed in their quest for wealth. The symptoms of such behaviour frequently manifest duri...