Could Iran's nuclear ambitions topple the US economy?

A successful financial model will be used in progressively riskier situations until it reaches its breaking point, argues Roger Lowenstein in his book 'Origins of the Crash'. The Daily Reckoning's Justice Litle wonders if the stand-off in Iran could be that breaking point. Could the mountain of debt that has supported the US economy for so long be toppled by Iran's nuclear ambitions?

'Finance has its own Peter Principle, by which a successful model will be adapted to progressively riskier cases until it fails.' - Roger Lowenstein, Origins of the Crash.

Picture it: You are a top-level security adviser to the president of the United States. The issue at hand is whether or not to attack Iran, by military means or otherwise, in a last-ditch effort to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons if United Nations channels fail (which they almost certainly will). Your fellow advisers are divided, leaving you to break the tie.

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