As a mathematics guest on Edinburgh's Economics courses, I've the great pleasure of sharing classrooms with those who hope to make a vast sum of money for themselves in the magic of the real estate market, in forex, equities, bonds, commodities or others. Progressively more elaborate constructions are devised; collateralised debt obligations stand testament to this. They're on the rise again, but the phenomenon is not new.

On the left here is Edwin Lefèvre's 1923 novel, in the time of the Great Depression, which is a veiled biography of Jesse Lauriston Livermore (right), an early pioneer in the stock market. Mr Livermore bankrupted himself many times, but none so seriously as at the end when he lost $100 million (over $1 billion in today's money) to end up $5 million in debt. He shot himself in the Sherry Netherland Hotel in Manhattan in 1940. His suicide note to his wife is reproduced in full at the end of my post. It's not stonks at all. The toll of financial crashes falls surely hardest on those who've built their entire self-worth around their numbers; one can only imagine what Lehman's bankers in London went through when the cameras ogled them carrying boxes out of the sinking ship. The idea of bankers throwing themselves from windows is a truly horrifying one.

As my strong note of caution, I would say: do not alienate - in your own mind or in reality - those who will still love you unconditionally when the magic fails. We're all "only Associates" at the end of the day.

"My dear Nina: Can't help it. Things have been bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can't carry on any longer. This is the only way out. I am unworthy of your love. I am a failure. I am truly sorry, but this is the only way out for me. Love Laurie"

(I'm truly indebted to many for the elaboration of these sentiments, but particularly so to my ex-girlfriend in Oxford. Guided by the principles of Islam, she railed against such materialistic excesses, and had seen first-hand the personal trauma that greed for its own sake could cause.)

See also