Sunday, April 15 is the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Why is it that this event still grips the imagination today. Other ships have sunk, with greater loss of life, over the years, but none seem to fascinate like the Titanic. Perhaps it’s the colossal name, or the fact that it was the maiden voyage of the latest and greatest in technological advances, loaded with celebrities. Or perhaps it’s the reminder of man’s hubris–that the ship that was deemed unsinkable was lost so easily and so soon–that makes that moment so long ago resonate still. A hundred years later, we had come to believe that the economic cycles had finally been tamed by the enlightened application of modern economic principles. Inflation was a thing of the past, stocks were soaring to new highs, and markets could operate without risk. Then the iceberg appeared, too large and too close to steer around.