The madness of crowds: Looking to place some blame for the skyrocketing cost of fuel and groceries? Today's LA Times offers up one: commodity trading. Investment in futures is out of sight. Touted as a mechanism to stabilize risk. For those who believe that markets are reasonable and rational the recommended reading is Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Human behavior hasn't changed all that much in the last couple of hundred years. Capitalism's markets are alternately driven by fear and greed. Left uncontrolled, sooner or later they will do something dangerous. The housing meltdown is a fine example. The "irrational exuberance" of the stock market followed by its subsequent rapid decline is another.