Cheapskate extraordinaire John Burns once scrawled this verse for me on a piece of paper:

Well, the events of 2008 have brought Hard Times upon many of us. But if it's any consolation, the world has seen tough economic times before and managed to endure. For one example, numismatists can looks to medals relating to John Law and the Mississippi Company, such as those cataloged as number 115 and 116 in C. Wylys Betts' 1894 work, American Colonial History Illustrated by Contemporary Medals.

Roughly translated, the inscriptions include the phrases "Credit Is As Dead As A Rat" and "Bankruptcy is the Fashion" Here's a description and image of one of the medals from Stack's.

From the Stack's January 2006 sale (John J. Ford, Part 13):

To view the complete lot description, see: Stack's January 2006 Auction, Lot 583 (http://www.stacksarchive.com/viewlot.php?auction=ST0106&lot=583)

To read the complete article, see: The Ponzi Paradigm (www.counterpunch.org/hudson12232008.html)