Cocaine the True Cause of Financial Crisis: Claim

Forget all those complicated economic explanations. The real reason for the financial crisis was simple: Bankers were doing too much coke, says a professor and former UK government drugs adviser. The drug made bankers "overconfident," prompting them to take "more risks," says David Nutt. Cocaine fueled their "culture of excitement and drive and more and more and more," he says. It's not Nutt's first controversial statement, the Telegraph notes: He was fired from the government after saying ecstasy and horseback riding were about even, safety-wise; he's also claimed that alcohol is more dangerous than heroin. (More cocaine stories.)