Ah, I see Mr. Travis using the always reliable Herbert Hoover Playbook! I think this is where Santayana's classic: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" comes in. A teensy bit arcane (and only if you can stand yet another -- auugggghhhhh! -- Krugman reference) re 1937:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/a-global-1937/

None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.