Peggy Noonan totally nails it:
The sale of antidepressants and antianxiety drugs is widespread. In New York their use became common after 9/11. It continued through and, I hypothesize, may have contributed to, the high-flying, wildly imprudent Wall Street of the ’00s. We look for reasons for the crash and there are many, but I wonder if Xanax, Zoloft and Klonopin, when taken by investment bankers, lessened what might have been normal, prudent anxiety, or helped confuse prudent anxiety with baseless, free-floating fear. Maybe Wall Street was high as a kite and didn’t notice. Maybe that would explain Bear Stearns, and Merrill, and Citi.
No. They were drunk from the elixor of money.
Posted by: lahru on March 19, 2009 7:44 PMHell of a thought!
What's the difference between drugged and drunk?
To me,not much in end results.
Not much. Both lower inhibitions, without which a moderate amount (at least) civilization would fail.
Posted by: Lucy on March 21, 2009 5:20 PMI remember reading a year or two ago in the Guardian that the number of Prozac prescriptions alone was half the number of UK citizens, so that Prozac is actually found in small amounts in the water supply. And of course no long-term testing has been done to see what effect tiny amounts of something like Prozac would have if administered continuously for decades.
But, not to worry, folks, corporations will take care of us! Turn on the TV, eat a cheese puff, and relax in a Disney World of Tomorrow!
Posted by: Chuck Dupree on March 22, 2009 1:37 AM