[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]You want to debate using facts? I’m all for that. I can categorically state and using historical precedent (LTCM, 1998) that a disorderly unwinding of some of the significant portfolios and positions held by “too big to fail” players would trigger a systemic collapse. We were on the verge in 1998 and LTCM was nothing compared to some of these behemoths and the staggering size of their portfolios.
[/quote]

There is only one mention of the term systemic collapse in that book (on page 204):

http://books.google.com/books?id=-xgOQ6jnQooC&pg=PA204&lpg=PA204&dq=%27systemic+collapse%27+%2B+lowenstein&source=bl&ots=0bCZO52d0F&sig=67_oxzyin0nBukEhqzOPDeQ4lew&hl=en&ei=iInZSfL_HaektAPwleiiCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA205,M1

The banksters debated the likelihood of systemic collapse but got nowhere. It was a parlor topic, not something the banksters wanted to spend $250 million on.

So it doesn’t look like the banksters of that era would agree that we were on the verge of systemic collapse. Nice try, though. Maybe next time use a more obscure reference that isn’t searchable online to make it a little harder for me to debunk your arguments.

Anyway, maybe a collapse of the banking system is what is needed. As Jim Rogers has said, every bank in Russia collapsed in the late 90’s and they pulled through just fine.